President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on the alienation of Federal Government properties.
The directive was announced in a statement issued on Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, President Tinubu has directed that all matters relating to the activities previously handled by the committee will now be coordinated by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.
The Presidential Implementation Committee 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 then Minister of Housing and included representatives from the Federal Ministries of Transportation, Justice, Health and Agriculture, as well as the Nigeria Police Force. Its pioneer secretary was Prof. P. T. Ahire, then a Deputy Director in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, while other members were drawn from both the public and private sectors.
On March 22, 2001, the Federal Executive Council approved the establishment of a panel of inquiry to prepare a White Paper to guide the implementation of recommendations relating to the committee’s work. The panel spent 21 months before submitting its report.
The Presidency said the decision to dissolve the committee followed a review which found that its activities had expanded beyond its original mandate, leading to multiple court cases across the country.
According to the statement, the Federal Government concluded that the committee’s continued existence was no longer necessary.
President Tinubu also directed that the Attorney-General of the Federation assume responsibility for coordinating all matters relating to the committee’s activities with effect from November 5, 2025.
In addition, the committee’s former Secretary, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, has been instructed to cease representing the committee or the Federal Government on any matters connected to its former responsibilities.
