Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi State, has approved 60 years as the retirement age for law officers in the state.
Ibrahim Sanni Muhammed, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kogi State, disclosed this at a 2-day training workshop for law officers from the state’s Office of the Public Defender and Citizens’ Commission (PDCRC) and the Ministry of Justice in Lokoja on Tuesday.
The training was organised by Kogi PDCRC in collaboration with Mercy Corps to scale up the capacity of PDCRC and Ministry of Justice, law officers on alternative dispute resolution and mediation skills.
Muhammed commended the governor for approving 60 years retirement age for law officers in compliance with Sections 1 and 4 of the Kogi State Law Officers.
The Attorney General stated that this is in response to Section 82(1)(a) of the Magistrate Courts Law of Kogi State, 2020, which the governor assented to in September 2020 and which among others provides that a magistrate will cease to act as a magistrate when he attains 60 years.
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“The approval by His Excellency would ensure that the system benefits maximally from the skill and experience of such law officers on whom the state government has invested hugely by way of human resource development”.
Muhammed said that the new law and the approval of 60 years retirement age for law officers have further repositioned the judiciary sector in the state to perform optimally with experience.
“The judiciary has commenced the implementation of this law since 2020 in the determination of retirement age for magistrates in the state,” Mohammed said.
On the development, Abdullahi Zakari, director general of PDCRC, commended the governor for demonstrating his commitment to the rule of law and towards the justice sector in the state. He noted that a lot of reforms had happened in the justice sector under the administration of the governor.
“Of great note, is that the approval came when the Federal Government has just signed into law, a constitutional amendment harmonizing retirement age for judicial officers,” Zakari said.
He called on law officers to reciprocate the gesture by bringing to bear their years of experience in the discharge of their responsibilities.
