Senate wants Judicial Officers’ Retirement Age To 70yrs

The Senate directed the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA) on Tuesday to forward Constitution Amendment Bill No. 20 to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent in accordance with the requirements of the Authentication Act.

The law attempts to guarantee consistency in the retirement age and pension rights of the supreme court of records judicial personnel.

It raises the retirement age from 65 to 70 years.

The bill defines a judicial officer of superior courts of record thus: “A judicial officer appointed to the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, High Court of Federal Capital Territory Abuja, High Court of a State, Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Sharia Court of Appeal of a State and Customary Court of Appeal of a State may retire when he/she attains the age of sixty-five years and he shall cease to hold office when he attains the age of seventy years”.

The proposal was part of the constitution alteration bills transmitted to state houses of assembly for concurrence last year but not part of the 35 that secured the required approval of 24 out of 36 state assemblies.

Deputy Senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege, in a motion, informed his colleagues during plenary on Tuesday that Sokoto State House of Assembly has approved the Constitution Alteration Bill No. 20 and forwarded its resolution to the National Assembly.

He said with the approval of the Sokoto assembly, the bill on the uniform retirement age of judicial officers has met the provisions of Section 9(2) of the constitution for passage.

The Senate, after adopting the motion, directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to transmit the bill to the president for his assent.

The parliament had earlier transmitted 35 constitution alteration bills to the president for assent out of which 19 were rejected and 16 signed into law.