• Tinubu picks Shettima as running mate for presidential ticket
• ASUU Strike: Electricity workers threaten to shut down the power sector
• Super Falcons qualify for quarter-finals of WAFCON 2022
• Kaduna 43: Terrorists demand N4.3bn ransom
• Fuel scarcity: PMS is selling above market price in Abuja and other states

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

Tinubu picks Shettima as running mate for presidential ticket

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has announced Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2023 presidential elections.

He announced this while addressing journalists in Katsina State on Sunday, according to a presidential aide, Buhari Sallau.

Tinubu had earlier chosen Ibrahim Kabiru Masari as a placeholder for the vice-presidential slot but later remarked that a substantive running mate would replace Ibrahim Masari.

Shettima is an outspoken Muslim politician from the Kanuri tribe in Borno State.

He obtained a Master’s degree (MSc) in Agricultural Economics in 1991 at the University of Ibadan in Southwest, Nigeria. Shettima joined the University of Maiduguri as a Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and was in academia from 1991 to 1993.

From 2007 to 2011, he served as Commissioner in five ministries.

He was Commissioner of Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs (2008), Education (2009), Agriculture and Natural Resources, and finally to the Ministry of Health from where he contested the Governorship in 2011 which he won under the platform of the now-defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party and was inaugurated on May 29, 2011.

He won reelection in 2015 under the All Progressives Congress and was chosen as Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, an umbrella body of Governors in the 19 States located in northern Nigeria.

ASUU Strike: Electricity workers threaten to shut down the power sector

Under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, workers in the power sector have threatened to shut down the electricity supply in the country should the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, declare a nationwide protest over the protracted crises in the country’s educational sector.

In a statement released by the NUEE General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, NUEE said it “is deeply saddened and appalled by the impasse between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Unions in the Tertiary Academic Sector (Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Research Institutes) which has avoidably lingered.

“This deadlock which has lasted for several months with the students staying at home; is undoubtedly exposing the students to all forms of negative vices inimical to nation-building.

“It is through education that this nation Nigeria could be pulled out of the current doldrums and be positioned towards Socio-economic and Technical development of the next millennium.

The statement also added that “a stitch in time saves nine.”

Super Falcons qualify for quarter-finals of WAFCON 2022

The Super Falcons of Nigeria qualified for the quarter-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after a comfortable 4-0 win against Burundi on Sunday.

The falcon’s domination of the game finally yielded results when Rasheedat Ajibade won and scored a penalty in the 25th minute after she was upended by onrushing goalkeeper Jeanine Irakoze.

A minute after Ajibade’s goal, the speedy Peace Efih took advantage of an Ajibade pass and slipped a shot underneath the goalkeeper making it 2-0.

Less than a minute later, Nigeria had a 3-0 lead after a cross found Ajibade in space on the far side of the box and she passed it into Kanu, who turned and shot inside the net.

In the second half, the Falcons started the way they left off in the first period, with Ajibade lifting the ball into the box for Kanu to rifle past substitute goalkeeper Amissa Inarukundo with only 22 seconds gone.

The win took the champions to six points and five goals advantage, but South Africa’s 1-0 win over Botswana meant the Banyana Banyana finished on a maximum of nine points and topped the group.

Kaduna 43: Terrorists demand N4.3bn ransom

Five days after the alleged masterminds of the abduction were freed from the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, by scores of armed men, demands are now being made for N100m ransom for each of the 43 abducted Kaduna train passengers, who are still in their custody.

As part of their demands, they requested the release of 15 terrorist commanders, their children detained by the military, and an undisclosed cash amount.

On June 12, the terrorists released 11 hostages after 75 days in captivity, while another 7 regained their freedom on Saturday.

These victims were reportedly released through the assistance of the Publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald newspaper, Mallam Tukur Mamu, who has been negotiating with the militants.

Giving an update on the situation on Sunday, a family member of the abducted victims said that the terrorists were now asking each family to cough up N100m ransom for the release of their loved ones.

Fuel scarcity: PMS now selling above market price in Abuja and other states

Some filling stations in Lagos, Abuja, Niger, and other states have allegedly dispensed PMS(Petrol) at between N200/litre to N250/litre on Sunday, higher than the government-approved retail price of N165/litre, as queues for the product extended to even more states.

Oil marketers have denied claims of product hoarding or diversion, as they stressed that the insufficient supply of PMS by NNPC and the non-payment of bridging claims for the transportation of petrol were the key reasons for the scarcity.

The President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, in reports said that filling stations that had products were dispensing, while those that were shut had no petrol to sell.

He said, “The problem is that every side needs to be transparent. We as retail outlet owners are ready to sell petroleum products to the teeming Nigerian public. We have no reason why we should not sell our products.