CSOs Urge Senate to Reject Tenure Extension Bill for National Assembly Clerk

A coalition of civil society groups, the Foundation for Rights Enforcement, Enlightenment and Defence (FREED), has called on the Senate to reject a controversial bill seeking to extend the service years of the Clerk to the National Assembly, Magaji Sani Tambawal, just months before his tenure ends.

The bill proposes an extension of retirement age from 60 to 65 years, a move that has been met with resistance from various quarters.

According to FREED’s leader, Mohammed Saidu, the Clerk is misleading the 10th Assembly and using a compromised union to pursue his personal ambitions.

Saidu argued that the Clerk had previously used the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to determine the Senate President’s ranking, but now wants to change the rules for personal gain.

He further questioned the Clerk’s motives and the union’s ability to regulate its service year, stating that it is only the Clerk who believes they have such power.

The Senate is said to have stepped down the consideration of the Concurrence Bill on extension of retirement age, but the controversy continues to brew.

A document that went viral revealed that some members of the parliamentary union had allegedly signed a communique endorsing the extension of service bill, but the details of their terms of service when they joined the National Assembly bureaucracy remain unclear.

FREED has urged the Senate to follow the resolutions of the Council on Establishment at its 45th meeting held in December 2023 in Bauchi, which called for a rejection of the request for an upward review of retirement age for public servants.

They argue that this extension is not in line with national aspirations of Renewed Hope, youth development, and innovation, and it is also not in sync with the reality of Nigeria’s population dynamics.

With the Clerk, Magaji Sani Tambawal, born in 1965 and having joined the National Assembly in April 1990 (34 years), the proposed extension would allow him to remain in office until he is 65 or must have spent 40 years in service.

The Senate must decide whether to heed the call of the civil society groups and reject the bill for tenure extension, or to consider the arguments put forward by the Clerk and the parliamentary union.

The decision could have far-reaching implications for the National Assembly and the nation as a whole.