Kogi State Government has approved 65 years as the retirement age for public school teachers in the state and employed 3,979 new teachers to fill existing manpower gaps in the system.
The decision to extend teachers’ retirement age from 60 to 65 years in the state government was reached during The State Executive Council meeting held at the EXCO chamber, government house, Lokoja, the state capital and presided over by Governor Yahaya Bello.
Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, Commissioner for Information and Communication, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo disclosed that approval has been given for the implementation of the 65 retirement age for public school teachers in Kogi State.
According to him, the decision was meant to help the state align itself with the federal government policy on the retirement age for teachers, and the policy, he explained, would enable the government to keep its best for a much longer period.
He explained that the domestication of the new retirement age policy would provide students in the state the opportunity to draw from the experience and expertise of the teachers.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, had in April this year assented to the Law on Harmonisation of Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria, Act 2022.
The new law provides clearly in Section 1, “ that teachers in Nigeria shall compulsorily retire upon attainment of 65 years of age or 40 years of pensionable service, whichever comes earlier”.
Also, the State Executive Council has approved the purchase of a thirty-two seater bus, each for the state male and female football teams, Kogi United and Confluence Queens in recognition of the team’s excellent performances.
