Tinubu Dissolves Major Presidential Committee

President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties, ending the operations of the committee established 25 years ago during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The President also directed that all responsibilities previously handled by the committee be transferred to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.

The directive was announced in a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

According to the Presidency, the dissolution takes effect from November 5, 2025. The former Secretary of the committee, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, has also been instructed to stop acting on behalf of both the committee and the Federal Government in all matters relating to its activities.

The Presidency explained that the decision followed a review of the committee’s operations, which found that it had gone beyond the responsibilities for which it was originally created. It added that the expansion of its activities had led to numerous legal disputes across the country, making its continued existence unnecessary.

The Presidential Implementation Committee was created in 2000 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo to supervise the sale, lease and privatisation of Federal Government landed assets as part of the administration’s monetisation policy.

The policy aimed to reduce the cost of governance by converting government-owned houses, vehicles and other public assets into cash while ending the practice of providing such benefits to public officials.

At the time of its establishment, the committee was chaired by the Minister of Housing and included representatives from the Ministries of Justice, Transportation, Health and Agriculture, as well as 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.

In March 2001, the Federal Executive Council approved the establishment of a panel of inquiry to prepare a White Paper that would guide the implementation of the committee’s recommendations. The panel completed its assignment after about 21 months.

Although the monetisation policy became one of the major administrative reforms introduced during the Obasanjo administration, its implementation remained contentious for years.

The disposal of government properties sparked thousands of disputes involving property valuation, allegations of sales below market value, claims that some assets were allocated to politically connected individuals and several court cases challenging different aspects of the process.

With the committee now dissolved, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation will assume responsibility for all outstanding matters relating to the alienation of Federal Government properties.