Anger as senate moves to extend retirement age of n’assembly staff

Anger is brimming within the rank and file of the national assembly over a move by the senate to pass a bill that would extend the retirement age of staff of the institution’s civil service commission.

The bill is seeking to increase the retirement age to 65 years or 40 years of service, whichever comes first.

This is against the current retirement width of 60 years or 35 years of service.

Should the bill be passed, the upper legislative chamber would be concurring with a similar legislation passed by the house of representatives in 2023.

Aliyu Madaki, a lawmaker from Kano, while leading a debate on the general principles of the bill, said the extension would enhance the efficiency of staff of the national assembly.

If the bill is concurred to by the upper legislative chamber, the tenure of Sani Tambawal Magaji, clerk of the national assembly, and over 150 staff who were expected to retire in November, would be extended by five years.

Magaji, born in 1965, joined the national assembly in April 1990, according to a document seen by TheCable.

The clerk has spent 34 years in service as it were.

ANGER IN N’ASSEMBLY

A staff of the national assembly who pleaded anonymity said most of his colleagues see the move as an attempt to impede their civil service careers.

“It is not fair to us who want to rise and get to the peak of our careers in the national assembly service,” the staff said.

This is not the first time a move has been made to increase the tenure of civil servants in the national assembly.

In 2020, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, a former clerk of the national assembly, failed to leave despite being due for retirement.

Ahmed Amshi, chair of the national assembly civil service commission at the time, approved 60 years of age or upon 35 years of service, as the retirement requirement for national assembly staff.

Sani-Omolori was later forced to retire.