Hope-Feyisayo Temitope
A bill proposing an extension of the retirement age for members of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, and Abubakar Yalleman from Jigawa, who sponsored the bill moves to raise the retirement age of NPF members from 60 to 65, and from 35 to 40 years in service.
It also seeks to review the service years of police personnel in order 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”.
In his lead debate during plenary recently, Yalleman, who chairs the house committee on police, stated that the amendment is needed to retain the experience of officers who have been trained and have served for considerable years.
The bill proposes to amend section 18 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020.
“This experience is needed especially in this time of insecurity when experienced police officers are needed to help tackle insecurity in the country,” he added.