Nigeria President Raise Retirement age for Judges to 70 years old
The measure establishing a standard retirement age for judicial officers has been signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
The president promised that his government would strengthen the judiciary and give judicial personnel more authority, according to a statement released on Thursday by the State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye.
The measure was President Tinubu’s first to be signed since taking the oath of office on May 29 and was entitled “Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (fifth Altercation) (No.37) bill, 2023″.
Judges of the high court must now retire at age 70 instead of 65, among other changes made by the bill.
Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals are already required to retire at the age of 70.
Additionally, uniformity in the pension entitlements of judges of “superior courts of record” as defined in section 6(5) of the 1999 constitution (as modified) was secured by the Act.
On May 2, the National Assembly instructed its clerk, Amos Ojo, to forward the measure for Muhammadu Buhari’s approval.
But Abubakar Malami, a former minister of justice and attorney general of the federation, had earlier recommended Buhari to oppose the measure.
Malami said in a document dated May 23 that the measure looked to be “far-reaching, unnecessarily wide, and ambiguous” and that it provided no “justification” for raising the retirement age along with perks for judges. The memo was directed to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
According to the former AGF, if the law is passed, there may be more pressure to raise the retirement age for Supreme Court and Court of Appeal justices.
