Civil Servants Advocate Upward Review Of Retirement Age

Civil servants under the auspices of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), have called on federal government to review upward the retirement age of civil servants to 65 or 40 years in service.

The group reiterated its call for upward review of the retirement age for employees in the Core Civil Service which consists of line ministries and extra-Ministerial Departments/Agencies and is also an integral part of the enlarged public service.

Citing the upward review of judicial officers, universities lectures, teachers, as reason for the call, the secretary general, Comrade Joshua Apebo, stated that, there is need for uniformity in retirement age in the public service.

According to Apebo, “indeed, in South Africa, there is no single compulsory retirement age, except that there is a minimum retirement age of 65 years but a public servant can continue to work subject to suitability and health requirement.”

He stated further that, since 2015, the association has continued its advocacy through memoranda to the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) and at meetings with various government organs that retirement age in the Civil Service should be increased from 60 years or 35 years of service whichever is earlier to 65 years or 40 years of service whichever comes first. 

“In fact, when the Federal Government approved 65 years of age or 40 years of service for teachers, the Association intensified its campaign that Education Officers in the Federal Ministry of Education including those in Federal Government Colleges should be integrated in the new retirement age and the Government approved the demand.

“Since Judicial Officers, Universities Lectures, Teachers, etc, are now enjoying the new retirement age regime, it is only fair that the new retirement age of 65 years or 40 years of service whichever comes first should also apply to Core Civil Servants,” he stressed.