…upholds teachers’ retirement at 65
By Joseph Erunke, Abuja
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has ruled that teachers and education officers who become directors in the Federal Civil Service cannot be compulsorily retired after spending eight years in office, declaring that they are entitled to remain in service until they attain 65 years of age or complete 40 years of pensionable service.
In a landmark judgment delivered in Abuja on July 10, 2026, Justice O. Y. Anuwe nullified circulars issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Education seeking to enforce the Federal Government’s eight-year tenure policy on directors who are teachers and education officers.
The court held that the circulars were inconsistent with the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022, and therefore invalid to the extent that they applied to teachers and education officers.
