Confab rejects increment of retirement age

By Hassan Haruna Ginsau.

The National conference has rejected the upward review of the retirement age in the public service by five years, from 60 years of age or 35 years in service to 65 years of age or 40 years in service as proposed by its committee on Public service.

The recommendation to increase the retirement age by the committee was the main point of discussion during deliberations by delegates. Majority of the speakers in their’ remarks argued that there was a need for workers currently in the public service approaching retirement age to create room for the millions of unemployed youth in desperate need of jobs.

Others went as far as to say that the almost retiring workers didn’t have anything more to offer. In her remarks, a youth delegate, Yadomah Bukar Mandara who is also a civil servant called on her colleagues to use their real ages and not their’ “civil service” age, adding that she also hoped to leave the service after she completed her 35 years of service.

Delegates also agreed that civil servants should adopt the bank employee’s declaration of assets act that requires staff to; make a full disclosure of his assets within 14 days of the commencement of the act; and in the case of a new employee, he will declare his assets within 14 days of employment.

The conference also adopted recommendations stating that; the chairman and members of the federal character commission shall be appointed by the president; there should be no external transfer into the directorate level; mandatory training for promotion into levels 12-17.

Other proposals adopted were that; the appointment to the head of the civil service shall only be from among serving state and federal permanent secretaries; that the civil service should adopt common rules and practices in both the federal and state levels; to establish state character commissions to cater for minorities.