No fewer than 30 top officials will be retiring alongside the Clerk to the National Assembly, Magaji Tambawal, The PUNCH has gathered.
Based on parliamentary practices, Tambawal began his pre-retirement leave on November 1, 2024, having handed over to his deputy, Kamouroudeen Ogundele.
Tambawal, who was first appointed acting Clerk to the National Assembly in November 2022 and later confirmed in March 2023, will turn 60 in February 2025.
Although he officially retires in February, he will not be actively involved in any assignment or tasks from the commencement of his pre-retirement leave till when he officially vacates the office.
According to an official document received by our correspondent, prominent staffers of the National Assembly who would also be leaving are the Clerk to the Senate, Chinedu Akabueze, the Deputy Clerk to the Senate, and the Deputy Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Others are 11 directors, six deputy directors, one assistant director, and two other directors at the National Assembly Service Commission.
The exodus comes after President Bola Tinubu declined assent to the bill requesting service elongation for parliamentary staff.
The bill sought to increase the retirement age to 65 years or 40 years of service, while the extant law prescribes 60 years of age or 35 years of service for retirement.
The bill was first introduced in the 7th Assembly, but failed to sail through and was reintroduced in the 8th and 9th Assemblies, but also failed.
The bill, which was brought back to the 10th Assembly and sponsored by the Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Aliyu Madaki (NNPP, Kano) scaled through a second reading in the House in October 2023 and was eventually passed on December 20, 2023.
Although the Senate initially rejected the bill, it backtracked and passed it on March 31, 2024, before it was transmitted to the President for assent.
Following the President’s refusal to assent to the bill, a number of directors are set for retirement between October and December.
Our correspondent gathered that a couple of them will also be retiring next year.
“Most of the staff, both at top level and medium level, got employed by the commission in 1991/1992 when the National Assembly started, hence the reason for the exodus of retirees amongst staffers,” a source told our correspondent.
The source added, “Many of them would either clock 60 years between this year and next year or would have spent 35 years working in the Civil Service.
“But many of those who are affected are as a result of age. It’s the season where a couple of the older staff would clock 60 years.”
Another source confided in our correspondent that the retirement was in batches.
The source added that about 20 to 30 would also proceed on retirement in January 2025.
The source noted, “The number of people retiring between this year and even till next year is quite huge. This is because many of the civil servants will be clocking 60 years.
“Even those who will be stepping into the new shoes have a few months to spend in the offices before they get to retirement age.”
The PUNCH gathered that outside of the top officials, a sizeable number of National Assembly staffers would also resign, while others would retire soon.
Another top official who pleaded anonymity lamented that the exodus of staff from the National Assembly would particularly affect legislative memory.
The source said, “There is no lie that a large number of people are retiring this year and next year.
“My worry is, do they have manpower on the ground that will fill that void? And if they do, what of the legislative memory? The parliament thrives on the longitude of service years; the experience will always be needed.”
Meanwhile, two high-ranking officers noted that the figure of those retiring was barely 50.
One of the sources with privileged information noted that all the staffers of the National Assembly who retired or will be retiring between January and December 2024 were 46 and not anywhere near 80.
The source said, “80 is far-fetched. Yes, people are retiring and people will still retire. But the total number of people retiring between January and December is 46.”