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From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The Benue State government has domesticated a law extending the retirement age of some section of civil servants in the state.
The category of civil servants are administrative and non administrative staff of state owned tertiary institutions including College of Educations Katsina-Ala and Oju as well as Benue Polytechnic Ugbokolo in Okpokwu local government area.
The law extends the retirement age from 60 to 65 years for the categories under consideration.
Signing the bill into law on Tuesday at Government House, Makurdi, Governor Samuel Ortom said his administration has signed the highest number of laws, over 55, more than any government in the state.
He added that all the laws were for the best interest of the people, maintaining that for the new law, his government is replicating what is done at the Federal level.
“With this new law, except one is stricken with illness, it is expected that as you age, you get better in experience”, Ortom said.
The Governor has also directed the lifting of ban on motorcycle taxis in the Sankera axis of the state.
The lifting of the ban takes immediate effect.
Sankara comprises of Katsina Ala, Ukum and Logo Local Government Areas, (LGAs) of the state.
This directive is in consonance with the judgment of the High Court of Justice, Gboko which had set aside the order of the Benue State Security Council who banned the use of motorcycles in the Sankera axis of the state as a way of curtailing the rise of crime in the area.
Governor Ortom maintained that as a government that believes in the rule of law and due process, his administration was bound to revert its action.
The action of the Security Council followed the continued use of the motorcycles by criminals and bandits in the area to wreck havoc on their communities which led to the destruction of the rural economy, social and political life of the area.
