President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties, bringing an end to the committee’s over two-decade existence.
The Presidency announced that all matters previously handled by the committee will now be coordinated by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The PIC was established in 2000 during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to oversee the privatisation, sale and lease of federal government landed assets under the government’s monetisation policy.
The committee was chaired by the Minister of Housing and included representatives from the Ministries of Transportation, Justice, Health, Agriculture, as well as the Nigeria Police Force. Its pioneer secretary was P.T. Ahire, then a Deputy Director in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, with additional members drawn from both the public and private sectors.
In March 2001, the Federal Executive Council approved the establishment of a panel of inquiry to produce a White Paper to guide the implementation of the committee’s recommendations. The panel spent 21 months before submitting its report.
According to the Presidency, the government determined that the committee had outlived its original mandate, with its activities resulting in multiple litigations across the country, making its continued existence unnecessary.
Consequently, President Tinubu directed that the committee be dissolved and that the Attorney General assume responsibility for all related matters with effect from November 5, 2025.
The President also ordered the former Secretary of the committee, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, to immediately cease acting on behalf of the dissolved committee or the Federal Government on matters relating to its former responsibilities.
The directive was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
