The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has struck down the Federal Government’s policy requiring education directors to retire after serving eight years in office, ruling that teachers and education officers who become directors are entitled to remain in service until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 or complete 40 years of pensionable service.
Justice Olufunke Anuwe delivered the judgment, declaring that circulars issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Education were inconsistent with the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022. As a result, the court held that the directives could not be enforced against teachers and education officers serving as directors.
The case was brought by Rakiya Iliyasu, a Grade Level 17 Director in the University Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education. She challenged the government’s directive that required directors who had spent eight years in office to retire, arguing that as an Education Officer, she qualifies as a teacher under the 2022 Act. The law provides that teachers can only retire upon reaching 65 years of age or after completing 40 years of pensionable service.
Iliyasu maintained that the February 2026 circulars issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Education unlawfully attempted to force her and other education directors into early retirement, contrary to the provisions of the Act.
In her ruling, Justice Anuwe agreed with the claimant, stating that Section 3 of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act expressly exempts teachers from any Public Service Rule requiring retirement before the statutory age of 65 years or 40 years of pensionable service. The judge further noted that the Act’s definition of a teacher includes Education Officers, placing Iliyasu squarely within the category of officers protected by the law.
The court also pointed out that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service had, in a 2025 correspondence, already acknowledged that education officers covered by the Act were exempt from the eight-year tenure policy. It ruled that the government’s later decision to issue retirement directives was inconsistent with its earlier position.
Consequently, the court declared the February 10, 2026 circular issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service, as well as the February 24 and February 26, 2026 circulars issued by the Federal Ministry of Education, illegal, null and void insofar as they applied to teachers and education officers.
Justice Anuwe also issued a perpetual injunction preventing the Federal Government and the Ministry of Education from enforcing the eight-year tenure policy against teachers and education officers in any manner that conflicts with the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022. Each party was ordered to bear its own legal costs.
Summing up the court’s position, Justice Anuwe stated: “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.”
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