Sani Fixes 65 Years as Retirement Age for Lecturers in State-owned Institutions

John Shiklam in Kaduna

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has issued an Executive Order increasing the retirement age of the academic staff in some state-owned tertiary institutions to 65 years.
The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Mohammed Sani Bello, disclosed this at a press conference yesterday in Kaduna.
He said the decision to increase the retirement age for academic staff in some state owned institutions was taken at a meeting with the governor,  management of the institutions and the leadership of the academic unions of all state-owned tertiary institutions which was held on Tuesday.
Bello said the academic staff presented  five demands, and the governor pledged to fulfil some over a period of time but specifically said the issue of retirement age will be resolved within 48 hours.
“The governor fulfilled that  promise by signing  the Executive Order Number 2 of 2024 on Thursday, which raised the retirement age of academic staff of  Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Zaria, College of Education Gidan Waya and School of Nursing and Midwifery to 65 years,” the commissioner said.
He said the Kaduna State government is committed to ensuring the smooth implementation of the policy across the institutions, adding that the order came into effect on Thursday, the day it was signed.
The commissioner said during the meeting that the academic staff presented a series of requests that had been lingering before the coming of his administration.
‘’There were five fundamental requests. Number one had to do with outstanding salaries and welfare benefits of the staff of these institutions. On that, His Excellency has graciously agreed to consider those outstanding payments and benefits.
‘’But of course, given the financial constraints that the state is facing, affordable amounts would be paid in staggered form until the outstanding liability is redeemed. That was the resolution.
‘’The next issue had to do with funding the institutions. We all know that since the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system in Kaduna State, tertiary institutions have been affected.
‘’They complained about funding which they require to run the day-to-day activities of the institutions.
“As a prelude to a complete reversal of the inclusion of tertiary institutions from TSA, His Excellency has also graciously agreed to commence sharing of the total revenue being collected by these institutions.
“There will be sharing formula within the first quarter of next year that will be mutually agreed which will be fair to all parties,” Bello said.
He added that the third issue which the meeting discussed had to do with the issue of tenure of academic staff of some state-owned tertiary institutions regarding retirement age.

According to him, it is a national policy that staff of similar institutions across the country are supposed to adopt 65 years as retirement age but ‘’unfortunately for Kaduna State, we have been left behind.’’

The commissioner said the governor has agreed by issuing an Executive Order, to allow the 65 years retirement age for Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Zaria, College of Education Gidan Waya and School of Nursing and Midwifery.”