The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has invalidated the Federal Government’s policy requiring directors in the education sector to retire after serving eight years in office, ruling that teachers and education officers are entitled to remain in service until they reach 65 years of age or complete 40 years of pensionable service.
In the judgment delivered in Abuja on July 10, 2026, Justice O. Y. Anuwe held that circulars issued by Head of Service which sought to apply the eight-year tenure policy to education directors, were inconsistent with the provisions of the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022.
The court ruled that the circulars could not stand because they conflicted with the Act, which guarantees teachers and education officers retirement only upon attaining the statutory retirement age or years of service.
The suit, marked NICN/ABJ/79/2025, was filed by Mrs. Rakiya Gambo Iliyasu, a Grade Level 17 Director in the University Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education. She challenged the directive compelling directors who had served eight years in office to proceed on retirement.
The claimant maintained that, as an Education Officer, she qualified as a teacher under the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022, and was therefore entitled to remain in service until the age of 65 or after completing 40 years of pensionable service.
She argued that circulars issued in February 2026 by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Minister of Education violated the law by directing her and other affected education directors to retire before reaching the retirement age prescribed by statute.
In his decision, Justice Anuwe agreed with the claimant and held that the provisions of the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act take precedence over any conflicting sections of the Public Service Rules governing retirement.
The judge ruled that Section 3 of the Act exempts teachers from any Public Service Rule that mandates retirement before the age of 65 or the completion of 40 years of pensionable service.
According to the court, the eight-year tenure provision contained in Rule 020909 of the Public Service Rules is no longer applicable to teachers and education officers, irrespective of whether they occupy director-level positions.
“A Teacher or Education Officer, whether he or she got to the post of Director or not, is entitled to retire from service on attaining 65 years of age or 40 years of service,” Justice Anuwe held.
The court further stated that serving as a director for eight years “is not a retirement condition for teachers any longer.”
Justice Anuwe also relied on the definition of “teacher” contained in the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, noting that it expressly includes Education Officers. On that basis, the court held that the claimant was fully covered by the protections provided under the law.
The judge further observed that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had, in a 2025 correspondence, acknowledged that the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act superseded the eight-year tenure policy as it relates to teachers and education officers, making the government’s subsequent position contradictory.
Consequently, the court declared the February 10, 2026 circular issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, as well as the February 24 and February 26, 2026 circulars issued by the Federal Ministry of Education, illegal, null and void to the extent that they applied to teachers and education officers.
Justice Anuwe also set aside the three circulars and granted a perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Education from enforcing the eight-year tenure policy against teachers and education officers in a manner inconsistent with the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act.
The court reaffirmed that teachers, including education officers serving as directors, are entitled to remain in service until they attain the age of 65 years or complete 40 years of pensionable service.
Each party was directed to bear its own costs.
The judgment is expected to impact education directors across the Federal Ministry of Education and other government education agencies, effectively protecting eligible officers from compulsory retirement under the eight-year tenure policy while they remain covered by the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act.
