Nigeria shuts borders against neighboring countries over elections today

The Federal Government has ordered the closure of all land borders ahead of Saturday’s governorship and state house of assembly elections in the country.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service IIsah Idris, disclosed this in a memo signed by the Service spokesman, Anthony Akuneme, on Friday in Abuja.

He said the borders would be closed from 12:00 a.m. on Saturday to 12:00 a.m. on Sunday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct governorship elections in 28 states across the federation except in Osun, Edo, Imo, Anambra, Ekiti, Ondo, Bayelsa, and Kogi States.

The state assembly election will take place in 993 constituencies across the 36 states in Nigeria.

The memo read: “The Federal Government has directed the total closure of all land borders effective from 00:00 hours on Saturday, March 18, 2023, to 00:00 hours on Sunday, March 19, 2023.

“Accordingly, all command comptrollers, especially those in the border states are to ensure strict enforcement of this directive.”