Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has signed an Executive Order increasing the retirement age of academic staff in state-owned tertiary institutions to 65 years, provided eligibility requirements are met.

The announcement was made on Friday by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Muhammad Bello, during a news briefing.

He explained that the decision followed a meeting between the governor and representatives of academic unions from state-owned tertiary institutions.

Bello said academics had five demands, and Governor Sani pledged to fulfil some over time.

However, he noted that the issue of retirement age needed to be resolved within 48 hours.

According to Bello, the governor fulfilled that promise by signing Executive Order Number 2 of 2024 on Thursday, which raised the retirement age of academic staff at Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Zaria, the College of Education Gidan Waya, and the School of Nursing and Midwifery to 65 years.

Bello, who noted that the state government was committed to ensuring the smooth implementation of the policy across state-owned tertiary institutions, said the order came into effect on the same day it was signed, Thursday.

The commissioner recalled that during the meeting, the governor listened to a series of requests that had been pending before his administration.
He said, “There were five fundamental requests. The first had to do with outstanding salaries and welfare benefits for the staff of these institutions. His Excellency has graciously agreed to consider those outstanding payments and benefits.

“However, given the financial constraints that the state is facing, affordable amounts will 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 system in Kaduna State, tertiary institutions have been affected.“They complained about the funding required to run the day-to-day activities of the institutions. As a prelude to a complete reversal of the inclusion of tertiary institutions from the TSA, His Excellency has also graciously agreed to commence sharing the total revenue being collected by these institutions.

“There will be a sharing formula within the first quarter of next year that will be mutually agreed upon, which will be fair to all parties.”

The commissioner added that the third issue discussed at the meeting concerned the tenure of academic staff at some state-owned tertiary institutions, particularly regarding retirement age.

According to him, it is a national policy that staff of similar institutions across the country should adopt 65 years as the retirement age, but “unfortunately, Kaduna State had been left behind.”