President Bola Tinubu on Thursday officially approved the immediate dissolution of the Presidential privatisation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties, a 25-year-old body established under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
President Bola Tinubu also transferred all the committee’s powers to Lateef Fagbemi.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the dissolution will take effect on November 5, 2025. He added that the committee’s former Secretary, B. S. Dutsin-Ma, has been directed to immediately stop acting on behalf of both the committee and the Federal Government in all related matters.
The Presidency said it reached the decision after a thorough review found that the committee had expanded its responsibilities beyond its original mandate, leading to multiple lawsuits across the country.
It also added that the findings no longer justified the committee’s continued existence.
The statement reads in part, “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.”
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Backstory…
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo established the Property Privatisation Committee (PIC) in 2000 to oversee the privatisation, sale, and leasing of Federal Government properties as part of his administration’s monetisation policy.
The broader reform programme sought to convert government-owned houses, vehicles, and other assets into cash while ending the long-standing practice of providing public officials with in-kind benefits.
The then Minister of Housing chaired the committee, while representatives from the Ministries of Transportation, Justice, Health, and Agriculture, as well as the Nigeria Police Force, served as members. Professor P. T. Ahire, then a Deputy Director in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), served as the committee’s pioneer secretary.
On March 22, 2001, the Federal Executive Council authorized the creation of a Panel of Inquiry to draft a White Paper guiding the committee’s recommendations.
The group labored for 21 months before submitting its report.
The monetization policy it produced became one of the Obasanjo administration’s most significant administrative innovations.
However, the policy triggered decades of controversy, sparking thousands of disputes over the valuation and sale of government properties, allegations of undervaluation, claims that officials sold properties to political insiders through irregular transactions, and numerous court cases.
