The bill to raise the retirement age of National Assembly employees has passed Second Reading in the House of Representatives.
Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki, the Deputy Minority Leader, sponsored the private member bill.
During the 8th and 9th Assemblies, the controversial bill suffered major setbacks due to a barrage of opposition from various stakeholders who argued that raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 years and increasing the service years from 35 to 40 years would result in worker redundancy and stagnation.
In his lead debate on Tuesday,1111 Hon. Madaki noted that the bill seeks to provide for a unified retirement age for National Assembly workers and to make it independent.
The proposed legislation also called for a retirement age of 65 or 40 years of service, whichever came first.
He claimed that this extension will improve the efficiency of the National Assembly’s professionalized workforce.
Hon. Ali Isa, who backed the Bill, noted that it will preserve the specialized experience of National Assembly staff.
He noted that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has also asked for this broader expansion, which is already in effect in many areas of the world.
Also speaking, Hon. Abdullahi Rasheed claimed that if the bill is passed, it will raise the morale of the National Assembly workers and ensure that they deliver on the complicated nature of the services they provide.
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The bill was forwarded to the House Committee on Public Service Matters for further legislative action following the discussion.
In the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the purported plan by the former Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA), Sani Omolori, to unilaterally enforce a new condition of service, the Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), Engineer Ahmed Amshi, directed that the status quo on the 35 years and 60 years of age, whichever comes first, be maintained.
