Yemi Obafemi
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties, with all matters relating to the committee to be handled by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The development was announced in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the President directed that all activities previously handled by the committee would henceforth be coordinated by the Attorney General, with effect from November 5, 2025.
The Presidency said the decision followed the government’s determination that the committee’s activities had extended beyond its original mandate, resulting in multiple litigations across the country and rendering its continued existence unjustifiable.
Established in 2000 during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Presidential Implementation Committee was created to oversee the privatisation, sale and lease of Federal Government landed assets under the government’s monetisation policy.
Its membership included the then Minister of Housing as chairperson, representatives of the Ministries of Transportation, Justice, Health and Agriculture, the Nigeria Police Force, as well as members drawn from the public and private sectors. Professor P. T. Ahire, then a Deputy Director in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, served as the pioneer secretary.
The statement recalled that on March 22, 2001, the Federal Executive Council approved the establishment of a Panel of Inquiry to produce a White Paper to guide the implementation of its recommendations. The panel worked for 21 months before submitting its report.
Following the President’s directive, the committee stands dissolved, while its former Secretary, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, has been directed to cease acting on behalf of the committee and the Federal Government on matters relating to its activities.
