President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties, bringing an end to a body established over two decades ago to oversee the disposal of government-owned landed assets.
The President also directed that all matters relating to the activities of the dissolved committee be coordinated by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The directive was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, the committee was established in 2000 during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to supervise the privatization, sale, and lease of Federal Government landed properties under the Federal Government’s monetisation policy.
The committee was chaired by the then Minister of Housing and included representatives from the Ministries of Transportation, Justice, Health, Agriculture, and the Nigeria Police Force. Professor P. T. Ahire, then a Deputy Director in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, served as its pioneer secretary, while other members were drawn from both the public and private sectors.
The statement recalled that 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 activities. The panel completed its assignment after 21 months and submitted its report.
The Presidency said the decision to dissolve the committee followed a review of its operations, which found that its activities had gone beyond its original mandate and had resulted in multiple litigations across the country.
“After careful consideration, the Government has noted that the activities of the PIC had extended beyond its original mandate, resulting in multiple litigations across the country, and the continued existence of the Committee is no longer justified,” the statement said.
President Tinubu consequently directed that the Attorney General of the Federation should henceforth coordinate all matters relating to the committee’s responsibilities with effect from November 5, 2025.
The Presidency also directed the committee’s former Secretary, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, to cease acting on behalf of the dissolved committee and the Federal Government on matters relating to its previous mandate.
The dissolution marks a significant restructuring of the Federal Government’s management of issues relating to the alienation of public properties, with oversight now vested in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
