• Buhari’s legacy will live on through Tinubu – Governor Yahaya
• FG to announce pay raise for civil servants
• ASUU’s latest strike may cost them eight months of pension – Ngige
• Peter Obi picks Obasanjo’s ex-aide, Osuntokun as Okupe’s replacement
• Female Ogun students asked to start wearing hijab

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:

Buhari’s legacy will live on through Tinubu – Governor Yahaya

Inuwa Yahaya, the governor of Gombe State, has expressed confidence in Bola Tinubu’s ability to deliver if he is elected president in 2023.

According to him, the All Progressives Congress (APC) nominee has already indicated he will continue President Muhammadu Buhari’s legacy.

Yahaya delivered the comment at the palace of HRH Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, Lamido Gona, in the Amada village of the Akko Local Government Area.

The governor claimed that President Buhari’s two terms in government were productive.

“We need consolidation, that’s why we are going to vote for Tinubu”, NAN quoted him.

“Tinubu has promised to continue with the good works of Buhari by ensuring good governance.”

Yahaya urged the people of the emirate to vote for APC candidates in the general election.

At Garko ward in Akko LGA, he said the party was happy with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS).

“We are confident that with BVAS, Tinubu and all APC candidates will win.”

Yahaya further declared that the ruling platform had achieved a lot and has massive supporters across Nigeria.

FG to announce pay raise for civil servants

The Nigerian government will shortly announce wage increases for federal employees.

Inflation-driven increases in the cost of living have prompted the government to explore a pay boost.

Chris Ngige, Minister of Labor and Employment, addressed journalists on Tuesday at the State House in Abuja.

Ngige declared that a Presidential Committee on Salaries has begun a review of present compensation.

The advisory panel is anticipated to propose wage changes early in the new year.

The committee is collaborating with the National Commission on Salaries, Incomes, and Wages.

The minister also revealed that the Ministry of Finance will lead the team.

“I am the co-chair to look at the demands of the workers. Discussions on evaluation are ongoing.

“As we enter the new year, the government will make some pronouncements”, Ngige said.

ASUU’s latest strike may cost them eight months of pension – Ngige

The Federal Government has signaled that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, may also forfeit their eight months’ pension benefits for the duration the strike lasted, suggesting that the difficulties plaguing the Nigerian university system are far from ended.

Following an in-depth discussion with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Minister of Labor and Employment Chris Ngige made this announcement to the press.

Ngige, who dubbed 2022 as a year of strikes, stated that ASUU members triggered the fate that would befall them as a result of the “no work, no pay” policy established during their strike.

Remember that ASUU and the Federal Government were enmeshed in a show of dominance when the apex university union terminated its eight-month strike but did not get its full month’s wage.

Ngige expressed frustration about the situation, saying that the government had to deal with industrial conflicts from different unions in the public sector. In contrast, the private sector was tranquil throughout the year.

The Minister of Labor also implied that the government was constrained by budgetary issues, although he did mention that there are initiatives afoot to increase the pay of academic staff.

Peter Obi picks Obasanjo’s ex-aide, Osuntokun as Okupe’s replacement

The Labour Party, LP, has appointed former Political Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akin Osuntokun as the new Director General of its Presidential Campaign.

This was confirmed by the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

According to Abure, the decision was reached after comprehensive consultations with party stakeholders across board.

Osuntokun will now replace Doyin Okupe who resigned from the position last week.

Okupe stepped down from the position following a federal high court judgment that convicted him of money laundering.

The court sentenced him to two years imprisonment but with an option to pay a N500,000 fine on each count, totaling N13 million.

Okupe opted to pay the fine after the sentencing.

Female Ogun students asked to start wearing hijab

School girls in Ogun State have been asked to start covering their heads with hijab in public schools.

This call was made by the League of Imams and Alfas Ogun State, during its December meeting held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The Islamic clerics asked all female Muslim students in Ogun to start using Hijab in public schools in the State.

The declaration, they said, followed a recent meeting they had with the State government on the need for their female children to adorn themselves with hijab on their school uniforms in government-owned schools.

In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Sheikh Tajudeen Adewunmi, after the Tuesday’s meeting, the Islamic leaders, said the commencement of the usage of hijab starts January 9, 2023, when the students would resume their second term.

They clarified that only “desiring and willing female Muslim students could adorn white colour shoulder length cape hijab as they resume for the second term of the 2022/2023 academic session on Monday 9th January 2023 and henceforth without any fear of molestation or punishment.”