Senate to Consider Increasing Supreme Court Justices Retirement Age in March
The Nigerian Senate will consider the proposal to increase the retirement age of the nation’s Supreme Court justices in March.
Nigerian Sketch gathered that the Supreme Court has commenced campaign to increase the retirement age of its justices from 70 to 75 years.
Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, revealed this while delivering a keynote address at a retreat to analyse over 280 memoranda for the review of the constitution which he said the committee received from the public late last year.
According to him, the Supreme Court sent a memo to seek for an increase in the retirement age of Supreme Court justices from 70 to 75.
He also said there was another memo calling for increase in the retirement age of judges of the states, including the FCT and the federal high courts from 65 to 70 years.
He explained that the proposal of the Supreme Court and that of the High Court judges will be treated by the committee and brought before the Senate for consideration as two bills by March, 2021.
His words: “To put you under further pressure we have also decided to extricate one or two issues dealing with the judiciary, most importantly, the one dealing with the retirement age for judges of the states, including the FCT and the federal high courts to bring in parity with the 70 years retirement age of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
“There is also the issue of the clamour by the Supreme Court to also move from 70 to 75 years. I am sure you are all aware that it is up to our colleagues in both chambers and of course, the State Houses of Assembly to decide whether or not we should move ahead with both.
“But I want to put you under pressure that these two bills must be ready for consideration by March. Both Houses – the Senate and the House of Representatives – would be prepared to take those two isolated issues while every other matter under consideration will come up on the floor of the Senate and the House of Representatives in June this year.”
