The Kebbi state Executive Council has endorsed the domestication of the law passed by the National Assembly which increased retirement age of primary and secondary school teachers from 60 to 65 years and 35 – 40 service years.
Consequently, an Executive Bill is to be presented to the state House of Assembly for ratification and implementation.
The council made the endorsement at its meeting in Birnin Kebbi presided by Governor Nasir Idris, Wednesday.
In a joint news briefing after the meeting, the Commissioner for Basic Education, Hajiya Halima Muhammad Bande, remarked that the new retirement age would boost the morale of teachers and improve the quality of teaching leading to development in the education sector.
She thanked Governor Nasir Idris for the gesture on behalf of teachers in the state which would motive them to work hard.
On his part, the Commissioner for Youths and Sports Development, Alhaji Nura Bala Fingila, said during the Exco meeting, the governor gave an order for the immediate payment of leave grant to all workers in the state which must not be less than 10% of their salaries.
The governor warned that payment must be made to individual worker’s bank account and not by table payment.
He made it clear that anyone found engaged in sharp practice would face the music. Similarly, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Ahmad Yakubu Birnin Kebbi, announced that Governor Kauran Gwandu has authorised the addition of N3.5 billion from the state coffers on top of the N2 billion received by Kebbi state from the federal government as palliative.
He said the governor regarded the amount from the federal government as insufficient which made the state government to increase the money that would be used to purchase grains for distribution to the people to cushion the present economic hardship in the country.
The state Head of Service, Alhaji Safiyanu Garba Bena, presided over the news briefing. (Blueprint)
