The National Industrial Court has dealt a major setback to the Federal Government by nullifying its policy requiring education directors to retire after serving eight years in office, ruling that teachers and education officers are entitled to remain in service until they attain the age of 65 or complete 40 years of pensionable service.

Justice O. Y. Anuwe delivered the judgment in Abuja on July 10, holding 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.

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The court ruled that the circulars were invalid to the extent that they sought to enforce the eight-year tenure rule on teachers and education officers serving as directors.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Anuwe declared: “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.”

He further held that:”Serving as a director for eight years is not a retirement condition for teachers any longer.”

The suit, marked NICN/ABJ/79/2025, was filed by Mrs. Rakiya Gambo Iliyasu, a Grade Level 17 Director in the University Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education.

Iliyasu challenged the February 2026 directives issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Education, arguing that as an Education Officer, she qualified as a teacher under the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022.

She contended that the law guarantees compulsory retirement only upon attaining the age of 65 years or after completing 40 years of pensionable service, making the government’s retirement directives unlawful.

Agreeing with the claimant, Justice Anuwe held that Section 3 of the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act expressly exempts teachers from any Public Service Rule requiring retirement before the age of 65 years or 40 years of pensionable service.

The judge also relied on the Act’s definition of a teacher, which expressly includes Education Officers, holding that the claimant fell squarely within the category of officers protected by the law.

The court further observed that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had, in an earlier 2025 correspondence, acknowledged that education officers covered by the Act were exempt from the eight-year tenure policy, making the government’s subsequent issuance of retirement directives 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 of the Federation and 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 set aside the three circulars and granted a perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Government and the Ministry of Education from implementing the eight-year tenure policy against teachers and education officers in a manner inconsistent with the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act.
The dispute arose after the Federal Government directed that directors who had spent eight years in office should retire in line with Rule 020909 of the Public Service Rules, despite the enactment of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022, which extended the retirement age of teachers in public educational institutions to 65 years or 40 years of pensionable service.

The judgment is expected to have significant implications for director-level education officers across the Federal Ministry of Education and other education-related federal agencies, as it affirms that the provisions of the Teachers’ Retirement Age Act override the eight-year tenure rule in the Public Service Rules for officers protected under the law.

Six years after losing her son during the 2020 #EndSARS protests, Bosede Onifade has made a heartbreaking appeal to authorities to release the remains of her son, Pelumi Onifade, so the family can finally lay him to rest.

Pelumi, a 20-year-old Mass Communication student and intern with Gboah TV, disappeared on October 24, 2020, while covering the #EndSARS protest in Abule Egba, Lagos.

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Eyewitnesses alleged that the young journalist was struck by a bullet before operatives of the Lagos State Police Taskforce reportedly bundled him into a vehicle alongside arrested protesters.

His whereabouts remained unknown for years, leaving his family in anguish.

A major breakthrough came on June 24, 2026, when a coroner’s inquest confirmed through DNA testing that a body labelled 1385 at a mortuary was Pelumi’s.

The DNA matched a sample provided by his mother, ending years of uncertainty over his fate.

The confirmation followed an August 2024 judgment by Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which directed the Lagos State Government to conduct a coroner’s inquest to determine the cause of Pelumi’s death and identify those responsible.

The order was issued after a suit filed by Media Rights Agenda against the police and the Lagos State Government.

Reacting to the outcome of the inquest, Bosede appealed to the authorities to release her son’s body, saying the family deserves the opportunity to give him a proper burial.

“We want them to release his body. If they have already killed him, they should give his body to us to bury,” she said.

She maintained that her son was innocent and condemned the circumstances surrounding his death.

“He was not doing anything wrong. Even if he was doing something wrong, they could have arrested him and not kill him in cold blood.”

Bosede also spoke about the emotional and financial burden the family’s six-year search for justice has placed on her, revealing that she has suffered depression and memory lapses while raising Pelumi’s two younger sisters through proceeds from selling homemade ogi (pap).

Speaking on reports of compensation for victims’ families, she questioned whether any amount of money could replace her son.

“They said they would give families of the victims some money, but will it bring my son back to life?”

She, however, added that any financial support could help provide for Pelumi’s younger siblings.

“But at least we can use it to take care of his siblings. I know that whatever Pelumi couldn’t do for us, his siblings would.”
Despite the years that have passed, Bosede said she remains committed to preserving her son’s memory.

“Many people try to start calling me by his siblings’ names; I tell them not to do it because his name will never depart from my household.”

The #EndSARS protests erupted across Nigeria in October 2020 as demonstrations against police brutality and abuses linked to the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The protests later evolved into broader calls for police reform, accountability and good governance.

The fight against the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces a major setback as frontline health workers have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike over months of unpaid salaries and allowances.

The protest comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the true scale of the outbreak could be between two and four times higher than official figures.

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According to the latest official data released on Tuesday, the outbreak, which was declared on May 15, has claimed more than 700 lives, with nearly 2,000 confirmed infections across the country.

Health workers stationed at the Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara, one of the hardest-hit areas in Ituri Province, staged a protest on Monday by burning tyres and temporarily blocking access to the facility.

“We’ve been treating Ebola patients without pay since May 15. We continue to do so because that is our oath but we are working in very difficult conditions,” doctor Pascal Bahoya said.

Medical personnel at the treatment centre warned that they would begin a “full-scale strike” without maintaining minimum services if authorities fail to honour their 48-hour ultimatum demanding payment of salaries and bonuses.

During a recent visit to Ituri, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba admitted that there had been delays in salary payments and assured health workers that the organisational issues responsible for the delay would be resolved.

The outbreak has placed enormous pressure on the country’s fragile healthcare system. According to the National Public Health Institute (INSP), at least 112 healthcare workers have contracted the virus, while 35 have died.

WHO also raised concerns that the epidemic may be significantly larger than official records suggest. Speaking in Geneva, WHO emergencies director Chikwe Ihekweazu said the agency’s modelling indicates “the scale of the outbreak is at least two to four times the number of cases that we have found.”

The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the current outbreak has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, although a clinical trial involving two experimental treatments is currently underway.

The disease has spread beyond its epicentre in Ituri to North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Haut-Uele provinces, while neighbouring Uganda has also recorded 20 cases, including two deaths.

As of July 12, authorities said 727 patients were receiving treatment in Ebola treatment centres across affected regions.

Eastern DRC continues to grapple with decades of armed conflict, mass displacement and poor sanitation, factors that have complicated efforts to contain the virus.

Despite the challenges, the international community has mobilised approximately $1.5 billion to support the country’s Ebola response, although officials say the DRC’s chronically underfunded healthcare system remains under severe strain.