Following the president’s assent to the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Uniformity in Retirement Age of Judicial Officers, judges in Nigeria’s High Courts will now retire at 70 years like their senior colleagues at the appellate courts.
A statement from President Bola Tinubu’s Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye disclosed the assent was given on Thursday at the State House.
The statement reads: “President Tinubu signed into law the ‘Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fifth Alteration) (No.37), 2023’ presented by the outgoing 9th National Assembly.
“With the signing of the Constitutional amendment Bill, retirement age and pension rights of judicial officers have been effectively brought into uniformity and other related matters.
“While signing the amendment Bill into law, President Tinubu pledged his administration’s dedication to strengthening the judiciary, ensuring the rule of law, and empowering judicial officers to execute their responsibilities effectively.”
In May, the National Assembly passed the bill abolishing the dichotomy between the retirement age of judges in Nigeria’s High Courts and those at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court but former President Muhammadu Buhari failed to give his assent before exiting.
The Constitution provides that justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal retire at 70 while those at the High Court retire at 65.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the National Assembly directed its Clerk to transmit the Constitution Alteration Bill 20 which approved a uniform retirement age for judicial officers in Nigeria to the president for assent.
This is sequel to the adoption of a motion titled: “Passage of Constitution (Fifth) Alteration Bill No. 20 (Uniform Retirement Age for Judicial Officers), 2023” at plenary.
The motion which was sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review, Ovie Omo-Agege, was in line with provisions of the Authentication Act.
