President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties (PIC), ending the operations of the 25-year-old body established under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The President has also transferred all the committee’s responsibilities to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The directive was announced on Thursday in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the dissolution took effect from November 5, 2025.
According to the statement, the committee’s former Secretary, B.S. Dutsin-Ma, has been directed to immediately cease acting on behalf of both the committee and the Federal Government in all matters relating to the alienation of federal properties.
The Presidency said the decision followed a comprehensive review of the committee’s operations, which found that it had strayed beyond its original mandate, leading to numerous legal disputes 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.
The Presidential Implementation Committee was inaugurated in 2000 as part of the Obasanjo administration’s monetisation policy to supervise the privatisation, sale and lease of Federal Government landed assets. The wider reform programme sought to reduce the cost of governance by converting government-owned houses, vehicles and other assets into cash while eliminating the practice of providing such benefits in kind to public servants.
Its membership included the then Minister of Housing as chairman, representatives of 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.
Following the committee’s inauguration, the Federal Executive Council on March 22, 2001, approved the establishment of a Panel of Inquiry to produce a White Paper to guide the implementation of its recommendations. The panel completed its assignment after 21 months.
Over the years, however, the implementation of the monetisation policy became mired in controversy, with thousands of disputes arising over the valuation and disposal of government properties. The process also attracted allegations of undervaluation, irregular sales, preferential allocation to politically connected individuals and prolonged litigation.
The dissolution of the committee is expected to centralise the management of pending property alienation matters under the Office of the Attorney-General, as the Tinubu administration seeks to streamline government processes and resolve lingering disputes surrounding the disposal of federal assets.
