President Bola Tinubu has declined to approve a controversial bill that proposed raising the retirement age for legislative officers to 65 years or extending their service period to 40 years.
In a letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, which was presented to lawmakers as they resumed after an eight-week recess, the President exercised his constitutional powers under the 1999 Constitution to reject the bill. However, Tinubu did not provide specific reasons for his decision.
The proposed legislation, known as the “Harmonized Retirement Age Bill for Legislative Officers of the National Assembly”, sought to extend the retirement age beyond the current 60 years set by the Civil Service Rule and increase the years of service from 35 to 40 years.
Had the bill been approved by the President, it would have required adoption by state legislatures across the country.
