Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has replied African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, following the former vice president’s pledge to reopen Nigeria’s land borders and develop ports in the southern part of the country if elected president in 2027.
Atiku, while speaking to supporters in a video shared online on Friday, said the restrictions on Nigeria’s land borders had negatively affected legitimate transborder trade and forced many young Nigerians out of business.
He also advocated the development of ports in the South and South-East to improve the movement of goods across the country.
READ ALSO:
- Nigerians Need Cheaper Fuel, Not Transport Promises – Atiku
- Fuel Subsidy: Sowore Accuses Atiku Of ‘Rewriting History’
- Cash Transfers: Tinubu Has Turned Poverty Into Govt Programme – Atiku
Reacting to Atiku’s position, Keyamo described the former vice president’s latest campaign promises as an attempt to throw everything into the political contest.
“Atiku Abubakar is going for broke, like in a gambling game; he is throwing everything in, even if they don’t make sense,” Keyamo said in a post.
The aviation minister said Atiku’s approach was understandable because, in his view, the 2027 presidential election represented the former vice president’s final attempt at securing the presidency.
“It is his last attempt (according to him), so this is expected. It spices up the race and we are loving it,” Keyamo added.
Keyamo, however, dismissed Atiku’s proposals, saying they would not change the minds of Nigerians.
“Nice try, but unfortunately for Atiku, Nigerians have since crossed the Rubicon,” he said.
Atiku had said that the closure and restrictions of land borders had affected businesses in northern communities that depend on cross-border trade with neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, Chad, Niger Republic and Benin Republic.
He said many young traders who previously operated businesses with millions of naira in capital had gone bankrupt and become unemployed as a result of the restrictions.
“So I said I am going to reopen the borders and I will,” Atiku said.
The ADC presidential candidate also said he had previously engaged European shippers and ship development companies over the possibility of developing ports in southern and south-eastern Nigeria.
According to Atiku, developing ports in locations such as Calabar, Uyo and Port Harcourt would create a more efficient route for transporting goods to the North-East and reduce the pressure on Lagos ports.
He cited the movement of containers from Lagos to Yola, Adamawa State, saying poor road infrastructure and the long distance currently make the process unnecessarily expensive and time-consuming.
