The Presidency on Thursday directed the former Secretary of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties and all its members to immediately stop parading themselves as representatives of the Federal Government, declaring that the committee had ceased to exist with effect from November 5, 2025.

The directive followed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of the immediate dissolution of the committee, with all matters relating to its activities now placed under the coordination of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.

A statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the President had specifically directed the erstwhile Secretary of the committee, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, to cease acting on behalf of the dissolved committee and the Federal Government on all related matters.

According to the statement, the dissolution takes effect retrospectively from November 5, 2025, the date President Tinubu ordered that the Attorney General should assume responsibility for all matters relating to the committee.

The Presidency explained that 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 comprised representatives of the Ministries of Transportation, Justice, 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, 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 produce a White Paper to guide the implementation of recommendations arising from the committee’s work.

The panel spent 21 months before submitting its report.

However, after reviewing the committee’s operations, the Federal Government concluded that its activities had gone beyond its original mandate, leading to multiple litigations across the country.

The Presidency said the continued existence of the committee was no longer justified, prompting President Tinubu’s decision to dissolve it and transfer responsibility for all related matters to the Attorney General of the Federation.

It added that henceforth, all issues concerning the alienation of Federal Government properties would be coordinated exclusively by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. (The Nation)