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 25-year-old body established under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The President also directed that all the committee’s responsibilities be transferred to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the dissolution took effect from November 5, 2025.
He added that the committee’s Secretary, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, had been instructed to immediately stop acting on behalf of both the committee and the Federal Government on all matters relating to its mandate.
According to the Presidency, the decision followed a review which found that the committee had expanded its activities 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 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 reform programme was introduced to convert government-owned assets into revenue and phase out the provision of official housing, vehicles and other benefits to public servants.
Its membership included the Minister of Housing as chairperson, representatives from the Ministries of Transportation, Justice, Health and Agriculture, as well as the Nigeria Police Force. Professor P. T. Ahire served as the committee’s pioneer secretary.
On March 22, 2001, the Federal Executive Council approved a Panel of Inquiry to prepare a White Paper that guided the implementation of the committee’s recommendations after a 21-month review.
Although the monetisation policy became one of the most significant administrative reforms of the Obasanjo administration, its implementation was accompanied by prolonged disputes over property valuations, allegations of undervaluation, claims of irregular sales and numerous court cases.
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