A proposed bill aiming to raise the retirement age of members of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has passed the second reading in the House of Representatives.
Gatekeepers News reports that the speaker of the house, Tajudeen Abbas, and Representative Abubakar Yalleman from Jigawa, sponsored the bill which aims to amend section 18 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020.
The bill aims to raise the retirement age of members of the NPF from 60 to 65, and from 35 to 40 years in service.
It also aims to review the service years of police personnel to “improve the experience and expertise of the police workforce to retain experienced personnel, and reduce the cost of training and recruiting new officers, improve the morale performance and job satisfaction, and to address the shortage of experienced police personnel”.
Yalleman who chairs the house committee on police said that the amendment is needed to retain the experience of officers “who have been trained and have served for considerable years” during his lead debate during the plenary on Tuesday.
He added “This experience is needed especially in this time of insecurity when experienced police officers are needed to help tackle insecurity in the country”
A similar bill aiming to increase the retirement age of military personnel from 60 to 65, and from 35 to 40 years in service, scaled second reading in the green chamber in October 2023.
