The Red Chamber, on Thursday, passed the bill seeking to increase the retirement age to 65 years or 40 years of service for third reading, as earlier done by the House of Representatives.
The existing law prescribes 60 years of age or 35 years of service for retirement.
The development comes a week after the upper legislative chamber threw out the bill due to oppositions by lawmakers.
Some of the Senators who kicked against the proposal were the Senate Whip, Ali Ndume (APC Borno South), Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA Abia South), Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse (APC Katsina South) etc.
Abaribe, in opposing the bill, said, “All the arguments made by the leader for this bill to be concurred to by the Senate, to me, do not add up. What is special about a Director of Finance in the National Assembly from Directors of Finance in the Ministries and Parastatals?
“The extension of years of service done for the teachers, lecturers and judicial officers through laws passed to that effect by the Senate and the House of Representatives are understandable, but that cannot be in any way, rationalised for National Assembly staff.
“They are civil servants like those in the ministries and parastatals and should not be treated outside the public service rule. I am against this bill and admonish the Senate to be cautious with the proposal.”
Ndume, in his objection to the bill, said, “Mr President, if a secret ballot is to be conducted among staff of the National Assembly in the Chamber with us now on the bill, many of them will vote against it. We need to be very cautious.”
But representing the bill on Thursday, the Senate leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central), said the extension of years of service of National Assembly staff from 35 to 40 or retirement age from 60 to 65, would help to protect institutional memory needed in as far as parliamentary practices and procedures are concerned.
According to him, the years of service and retirement age proposed for staffers of the National Assembly in the bill are in line with global practices.
He specifically mentioned the United States of America and the United Kingdom as countries where such years of service and retirement age are pegged for parliamentary workers.
After the Senate leader’s presentation, the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over the session, further softened the ground for passage of the bill by explaining to senators that all issues on it, “have been cleared .”
He said, “Harmonised retirement age of staff of the National Assembly which this bill seeks, would when concurred to, by the Senate, entrench competence, institutional memory etc, in line with international best practices.”
No senator was allowed to speak in objection to the bill, which made its clause-by-clause consideration and passage by the Senate expeditiously done.
Barau, however, set up a seven-man conference committee to collaborate with those from the House of Representatives for final passage by the National Assembly.
The conference committee is chaired by Senator Bamidele, while Senators Ifeanyi Ubah, Adamu Aliero, Asuquo Ekpenyong and others are members of the committee.
