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Closure of Borders Cause of Inflation, But They’ll Not Be Reopened, Says FG
The Federal Government admitted on Wednesday that its temporary policy to close land borders was responsible for the current rising inflation in the country.
But it still defended the closure, insisting that it would remain in place until the country’s neighbours learnt to respect trade protocols.
The FG said it had to close borders because Nigeria could not continue to subsidise economies of her neighbours.
Nigeria had in August closed its land borders on the grounds that smuggling of goods from its neighbouring countries was hurting its economy.
On November 4, the Federal Government listed five conditions for reopening the country’s land borders.
As one of the conditions, the government said Nigeria would not accept imported goods that were repackaged by neigbouring countries and brought to Nigeria.
But since the border closure, headline inflation rose to 11.61 per cent as of October from the 11.24 per cent recorded in September.
On Wednesday, Ahmed told State House correspondents that inflation rose due to hikes in food prices arising from the closure of the borders.
She was responding to questions after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting ended in Abuja.The FEC meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, the minister stated that the border closure was a temporary measure adopted by the government to protect the economy against trade malpractices by neighbouring countries and would be reopened when all of Nigeria’s demands were met.
She gave details, “On inflation, headline inflation declined every month for several months before we noticed an optic in the last two months. And now, headline inflation is at about 11:61 per cent as of the end of October.
“The slight increase in this inflation between September and October is due to food inflation. The food inflation relates to prices of cereals, rice and fish. And part of the reason is the border closure.
“But, the border closure is very, very short and temporary and the increase is just about two-basis point. Remember, there was a time inflation was nine per cent and it grew to about 18 per cent in January 2017 when we were in recession.
“The relationship between inflation, interest rate and growth is managed by the monetary authorities and is a management that is tracked on a regular basis.
“So, if you reduce interest rate, you expect more borrowing for investments in the real sector. But, at the same time, that also has the tendency of reducing money that is used for consumption on a day to day basis.
“So, it is a balance that we continue to watch on a regular basis. We expect that this will be moderated as border closure impact fizzles out and also as the monetary authorities continue to support the MPR (monetary policy rate), therefore ensuring that interest rates are not on the high side.”
Ahmed insisted that the government had little choice but to shut the borders else Nigerians would suffer the economic consequences, especially now that the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement was coming into effect.
“What we are doing is important for our economy. We signed up to the ACFTA; we have to make sure that we put in place checks to make sure that our economy will not be overrun as a result of the coming into effect of the ACFTA.
“That is why we have this border closure to return to the discipline of respecting the protocols that we all committed to”, the minister added.
On his part, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, explained that the gains of the border closure outweighed any other impact it might have caused, adding that Nigeria was subsidising the rest of West Africa.
He argued that the practice of importing goods into neighbouring West African countries and re-packaging them for Nigeria to look as if they were manufactured in such countries was not healthy for Nigeria’s economy.
Mohammed disclosed that up till Tuesday this week, Nigeria and and its neighbours were still engaged in discussions on why it was important for all the parties to respect the ECOWAS trade protocol on transit of goods.
He said, “The border closure, frankly speaking, is what we needed to do and we had to do it. We cannot continue to subsidise the rest of West Africa. And the benefits for border closure for me, I think far surpass the very little increase in inflation.
“We have been able to save about 30 per cent from our fuel consumption, which means that over time we have been subsidising the fuel consumption of other countries. Within the last three months, we have been able to increase by 15 per cent, duties collected from imports.
“Within the same period, we have been able to drastically reduce the volumes of arms and ammunition that have been coming into the country through smuggling, ditto with illicit drugs.
“All Nigeria is saying is, please, let’s respect the protocol on transit. ECOWAS set up a protocol on transit of goods, which is very simple. If a container meant for Nigeria is dropped in Cotonou, the authorities in Benin Republic should escort the container to the customs in Seme border, and that way proper duty will be levied and will be paid.
“But, on the contrary, what we have seen happening over the years is that our neighbours will put about five containers on one truck and drive them to the border as if it is only one container that they are going to pay duties on. Worse still, less than even 50 per cent of what is meant for Nigeria will come through the approved border.”
The Punch
Iran’s military, on Saturday, declared the Strait of Hormuz closed again, hours after reopening it and with more than a dozen commercial ships passing through the vital waterway.
The toing and froing over the strait cast doubt on US President Donald Trump’s optimism the day before, that a peace deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran was “very close”.
Tehran had on Friday declared the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, open on Friday after a ceasefire was agreed in Lebanon to halt Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
That prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, but with Trump insisting that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was concluded, Tehran threatened to shutter the strait once more.
Then, late on Saturday morning, citing a statement from military central command, Iranian state TV reported that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous status” and “is under strict management and control of the armed forces”, blaming the continued US blockade.
The announcement came as maritime tracking sites showed several ships making a dash through the narrow waterway, hugging close to Iranian territorial waters as instructed by Tehran and, for some, broadcasting their identity as Indian or Chinese in an apparent attempt to show their neutrality.
The same sites showed that late on Friday, a number of ships began heading for the strait before suddenly turning back amid the uncertainty.
By 0900 GMT on Saturday, several ships had fully transited the strait in both directions, but at least two tankers headed eastwards from the Gulf towards India after loading in UAE ports appeared to have turned around and aborted their journeys.
There are just four days remaining before the end of the two-week ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran, launched by Washington and its ally on February 28.
Nevertheless, President Trump appeared convinced that a deal could be finished shortly.
He declared Friday “GREAT AND BRILLIANT,” and made a series of social media posts praising talks mediator Pakistan.
Islamabad’s powerful military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, on Saturday finished a three-day visit to Iran aimed at securing the peace deal, during which he met Iran’s top leadership.
While Munir was in Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to push the peace process.
Islamabad has emerged as the lead mediator during the conflict, hosting a marathon round of direct peace talks last weekend attended by US Vice President JD Vance.
A second round of talks is expected in the Pakistani capital this coming week, with envoys hoping to end the war that was started by the US and Israel on February 28.
The allies launched a massive wave of surprise attacks on Iran, despite Washington and Tehran being engaged in diplomatic talks, that killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and numerous senior leaders.
The war rapidly spread across the region, with Iran targeting US interests in the Gulf and Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into the conflict by launching rockets at Israel.
In a sign that the two-week ceasefire remained stable, Iran’s civil aviation agency declared its airspace was open again, with international flights able to transit Iran via the east of the country.
Nevertheless, two major sticking points in the peace talks — Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium and the future of the Strait of Hormuz — appeared up in the air.
Speaking by phone with AFP on Friday, Trump said “we’re very close to having a deal,” adding that there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran.
Later the same day, at an event in Arizona, the president declared that Iran had agreed to hand over its 440 or so kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent — close to that needed for a bomb.
“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” he said.
But hours before, Iran’s foreign ministry had said its stockpile, thought to be buried deep under rubble by US bombing in last June’s 12-day war, was not going anywhere.
“Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.
“Transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations.”
Ordinary Iranians, meanwhile, remained cut off from the international internet, with monitor netblocks announcing on Saturday that the blackout implemented at the start of the war had reached its 50th day.
AFP
Veteran journalist and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has declared that a joint presidential ticket between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi represents the strongest strategy for the opposition to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Momodu said the emerging ADC coalition is gaining momentum as a credible alternative to President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which he accused of promoting “one-man rule” and weakening democratic institutions.
Momodu argued that an Atiku–Obi ticket offers both experience and electoral appeal, noting that both politicians already command significant national followings from previous elections. He recalled their collaboration in 2019, adding that Obi’s performance in the 2023 presidential election provides a ready base of supporters that can be consolidated.
According to him, the coalition is further strengthened by the involvement of political heavyweights such as Rabiu Kwankwaso and Rotimi Amaechi, making it a formidable opposition alliance.
“The candidates who placed second, third, and even fourth are aligning. That naturally builds a strong challenge,” Momodu said, suggesting that this development could unsettle the APC ahead of 2027.
He also accused the Tinubu administration of centralising power and undermining democratic processes, claiming that key institutions—including the legislature and electoral system—are increasingly influenced by the executive arm of government. He warned that such a trend poses risks to Nigeria’s democracy.
Momodu further alleged that opposition parties face systemic obstacles, including difficulties in accessing venues, legal pressures, and institutional interference. He argued that these challenges have made opposition unity not just strategic, but necessary.
Dismissing concerns about possible cracks within the ADC coalition, Momodu described such fears as speculative, insisting that current political realities have effectively forced major opposition figures to work together.
The Supreme Court has scheduled hearing for April 22 in the appeal filed by the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, in relation to the leadership dispute in the party.
Mark’s appeal is against the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal against the September 4, 2025 ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja refusing to grant some injunctive reliefs contained in an ex-parte application filed by a chieftain of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba chose the date on Tuesday after granting accelerated hearing in the appeal marked: SC/CV/180/2026.
The court ordered Mark’s lawyer, Jibril Okutepa (SAN) to file the appellant’s brief and serve on Wednesday.
It ordered the respondents to each file and serve on the appellant, a respondent’s brief within three days of being served with the appellant’s brief.
The appellant, according to the court, is to file a reply brief, if needs be, within one day of being served with the respondents’ briefs.
