Nigeria and the European Union (EU) have concluded negotiations on a readmission agreement that will facilitate the return of Nigerians without legal grounds to remain in EU member states, ending nearly a decade of negotiations on the contentious migration arrangement.
The agreement, which is expected to be signed after the completion of final procedures, is seeking to deepen cooperation between both sides on border security, identity verification, human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, disclosed this on Tuesday during a meeting with Magnus Brunner, EU commissioner for internal affairs and migration, and his delegation in Abuja.
The development was contained in a statement signed by Mary Ali, Head of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Interior.
Tunji-Ojo described the conclusion of negotiations as a significant milestone in Nigeria-EU relations, reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to honouring the agreement’s provisions.
He said Nigeria would not encourage irregular migration or tolerate any abuse of the trust between partner countries.
The minister, however, stressed that the agreement was not limited to returning Nigerians from Europe but was also aimed at establishing a more orderly, dignified and mutually beneficial migration management framework.
He said the Federal Government was modernising the country’s migration and border management infrastructure through automation and the integration of national identity databases.
Tunji-Ojo disclosed that the government had migrated more than 17 million migration records into an integrated system designed to accelerate the identification and verification of Nigerians returned from foreign countries.
He explained that the system would enable authorities to establish the nationality of Nigerians across three categories: those with valid Nigerian travel documents, those who travelled with documents but subsequently lost or destroyed them, and those who travelled without any form of identification.
According to him, the government is developing mechanisms to verify individuals in all three categories through available national records.
The minister said Nigeria was already implementing similar arrangements with the United Kingdom, while discussions were ongoing with the United States to replicate the system.
On security cooperation, Tunji-Ojo called for stronger international collaboration and real-time intelligence sharing to tackle human trafficking, migrant smuggling and other transnational crimes.
He said these challenges required coordinated action among countries, adding that improved trust and cooperation would also create better opportunities for legal migration.
The minister further disclosed that the Federal Government had recorded progress in correctional service reforms, with the number of repeat offenders declining from approximately 13,000 in 2023 to about 1,600 in 2025.
In his remarks, Brunner described the conclusion of negotiations as an important development that could open new areas of cooperation between Nigeria and the European bloc.
He commended the Federal Government’s efforts to modernise its border security architecture and expressed the EU’s readiness to deepen collaboration through its border management agency.
The EU commissioner identified police cooperation, the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and the expansion of legal migration pathways as priority areas for further engagement.
He disclosed that approximately 260,000 Nigerians were legally resident in EU member states, stressing the need to expand opportunities for safe and regular migration.
Also speaking, Johannes Lucher, a member of the EU delegation, acknowledged the difficulties encountered during the negotiations, noting that Nigeria had pushed for a broader cooperation framework beyond the readmission arrangement.
He said Nigeria had sought to incorporate issues such as anti-trafficking measures, the fight against drug trafficking and legal migration pathways into the agreement.
Lucher assured that discussions on these additional areas would commence following the conclusion of negotiations on the readmission deal.
He further disclosed that the EU had made available nearly pound 100 million in additional funding to support broader cooperation, with discussions expected to begin with relevant Nigerian migration and security officials.