The National Industrial Court has reinforced the legal protections granted to teachers and education officers, ruling that the Federal Government cannot compel them to retire after serving eight years as directors. In a judgment delivered in Abuja on July 10, 2026, the court held that officers covered by the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022, are entitled to remain in service until they attain the age of 65 or complete 40 years of pensionable service.
The decision followed a suit filed by Mrs. Rakiya Gambo Iliyasu, a Grade Level 17 director in the University Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education. She challenged a series of circulars issued in February 2026 by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Education, arguing that the directives sought to retire education directors in violation of an existing Act of the National Assembly.
In his judgment, Justice O. Y. Anuwe agreed with the claimant, holding that the circulars conflicted with the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act. The court ruled that the law expressly protects teachers and education officers from any retirement requirement that falls below the statutory threshold of 65 years of age or 40 years of pensionable service, regardless of whether they occupy the position of director.
Justice Anuwe further stated that the Act’s definition of a teacher extends to education officers, bringing them within the category of public servants entitled to the retirement protections provided by the legislation. According to the court, serving eight years as a director no longer constitutes a valid retirement condition for education officers covered by the Act.
The court also noted that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service had previously acknowledged, in a 2025 correspondence, that education officers protected under the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act were exempt from the eight-year tenure policy. Justice Anuwe held that the government’s subsequent circulars directing their retirement were inconsistent with that earlier position and could not stand in law.
Consequently, the court declared the February 10, February 24 and February 26, 2026 circulars issued by the Head of the Civil Service and the Federal Ministry of Education null and void to the extent that they applied to teachers and education officers. It also granted a perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Government and the ministry from enforcing the policy in a manner that conflicts with the provisions of the 2022 Act. Each party was ordered to bear its own legal costs.
The legal dispute stemmed from the government’s attempt to apply Rule 020909 of the Public Service Rules to directors who had spent eight years in office. However, the court found that the later provisions of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act prevail for officers protected under the legislation, providing clarity on how retirement rules should be applied within the education sector.
The ruling is expected to shape personnel administration across the Federal Ministry of Education and other education-related federal agencies. By affirming the supremacy of the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act in this context, the judgment provides certainty for education officers approaching retirement and underscores that statutory protections cannot be displaced by administrative circulars that are inconsistent with the law.
