The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has voided a Federal Government policy requiring education directors to retire after eight years in office. The ruling means the court stops FG from retiring education directors before they reach 65 years of age or complete 40 years of pensionable service.
Justice O. Y. Anuwe delivered the judgment in Abuja on July 10, 2026. The court nullified circulars issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Education. Those circulars had sought to enforce the eight-year tenure rule against teachers and education officers serving as directors.
Why the Court Stopped FG From Enforcing the Policy
According to a certified true copy obtained by the reporter on Tuesday, the court held that the circulars conflicted with the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022. As a result, the court declared them invalid as they applied to teachers and education officers.
“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 judge added that serving as a director for eight years is no longer a retirement condition for teachers.
The Case Behind the Ruling
Mrs Rakiya Gambo Iliyasu, a Grade Level 17 director in the University Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education, brought the suit, marked NICN/ABJ/79/2025. She challenged directives requiring directors who had served eight years to retire.
Iliyasu argued that as an education officer, she qualified as a teacher under the 2022 Act. That law guarantees compulsory retirement only at age 65 or after 40 years of pensionable service. She contended that February 2026 circulars from the Head of Service and the Ministry of Education unlawfully sought to force her and other education directors into early retirement.
Justice Anuwe agreed with her. The judge held that Section 3 of the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act expressly exempts teachers from any Public Service Rule requiring retirement before 65 years or 40 years of pensionable service. The judge also relied on the Act’s definition of a teacher, which explicitly includes education officers, placing Iliyasu squarely within the category of officers the law protects.
Government Had Earlier Acknowledged the Exemption
The court noted that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had, in earlier 2025 correspondence, acknowledged that education officers covered by the Act were exempt from the eight-year tenure policy. That earlier position made the government’s subsequent retirement directives inconsistent, the court found.
As a result, the court declared the February 10, 2026 circular from the Head of Service, and the February 24 and February 26, 2026 circulars from the Ministry of Education, illegal, null and void as they applied to teachers and education officers. Justice Anuwe set aside all three circulars and granted a perpetual injunction barring the Federal Government and the Ministry of Education from enforcing the eight-year tenure policy against protected teachers and education officers. Each party was ordered to bear its own costs.
Background: How the Dispute Began
The dispute began after the Head of Service and the Ministry of Education issued circulars in February 2026. Those circulars directed those directors who had served eight years to retire in line with Rule 020909 of the Public Service Rules. The directive affected several career education officers within the Ministry, despite the 2022 Act already having extended teacher retirement age to 65 or 40 years of pensionable service.
Lawmakers signed the 2022 Act to address Nigeria’s shortage of experienced teachers, improve retention of skilled education personnel, and strengthen teaching quality. The law also broadened the definition of “teacher” to include education officers, a provision that became central to this legal dispute.
The judgment is expected to carry significant implications for director-level education officers across the Federal Ministry of Education and related federal agencies. It clarifies that the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act overrides the eight-year tenure rule in the Public Service Rules for officers the law protects.
