Kano Assembly backs governor Yusuf’s power to extend civil servants’ tenure

The Kano State House of Assembly has confirmed that Governor Abba Kabir Yusif has the authority to extend the service years of an employee beyond the age of 60 or 35 years of service in the civil service.
The Assembly’s Chief Information Secretary, Kamauddeen Sani Shawai, made this known while providing clarification on a letter sent to the Assembly by a lawyer, Barrister Usman Dan Abdullo, on January 6.

In his letter, Dan Abdullo requested the Assembly to restrain Governor Abba from the decision to extend the service years of certain government employees, including the Clerk of the State Assembly, the Head of Service of Kano, and some judicial staff, for an additional two years despite the law stipulating that civil servant should retire at 60 years of age or after 35 years of service, whichever comes first.

However, Shawai stated that this is not the first time such an action has occurred, citing former President Muhammadu Buhari, who exercised his authority to extend the service years of heads of the country’s security agencies despite their retirement periods being due.

According to the Chief Information Secretary, although various groups have criticized the governor’s decision since the extensions were granted, with some even taking the matter to court for interpretation, he insisted that this would not change the government’s position.

In his letter, Barrister Dan Abdullo claimed that the law Governor Abba relied upon contradicts the Nigerian Constitution and the national civil service regulations.

Kano Assembly backs governor Yusuf’s power to extend civil servants’ tenure