By Abbanobi Eku Onyekachi
Abuja
The Senate on Thursday stepped down the controversial Bill which sought to extend the service year of the National Assembly staff by additional five years.
The bill, which has been passed by the House of Representatives, failed to pass for concurrence at the Upper Chamber.
There was an uproar in the Senate immediately after the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Michael Bamidele, representing Ekiti Central, introduced the bill.
Apart from Senator Sumaila Kawu, representing Kano South who spoke to support the bill, others, including Senators Enyinnaiya Abaribe, representing Abia South, Ali Mohammed Ndume representing Borno South and others, rejected the proposed legislation, insisting that it would cause discrimination in the Nigerian civil service.
Ruling on the matter, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the red chamber was stepping down the bill because it was controversial.
The National Assembly plans to extend the tenure of the current Clerk of the National Assembly, Sani Tambawal Magaji, and over 200 staff, if the bill is passed.
If the bill is passed, over 200 staff due for retirement in November this year may likely get a five-year service extension. But the Senate refused concurrence to the bill on the extension of retirement age for civil servants in the legislative arms and across the 36 state Houses of Assembly.
The bill is for an act to extend the retirement age of the staff of the National Assembly Service from 60 to 65 years of age and from 35 to 40 years of service.
Successive management of the National Assembly had made several attempts to lobbied the Legislature to make a law extending their tenure of service as against the condition prescribed by the Public Service Rules. The Civil Service Rules currently prescribes 35 years in service or 60 years of age, whichever comes first for employees to mandatorily retire.
Speaking after contributions from the Senators, Senate President Godswill Akpabio ruled that the bill be stepped down for more and wider consultations.
