These are the top ten stories that drove conversation this week.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi picked the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti.

With 941 of the delegates to the rescheduled primary of the party throwing their weight behind him, Fayemi defeated 31 other aspirants in the poll.

In reaction, the governor of Ekiti, Ayodele Fayose told Fayemi not to celebrate yet, describing Fayemi’s victory, at the rescheduled governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress held on Saturday, as pyrrhic.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose said, “the former Ekiti state governor’s victory has only positioned him to suffer a worse and more debilitating defeat than the one he dealt him in  2014.”

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Father of  Leah Sharibu, the last abductee of Boko Haram militants from the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe, Nathan Sharibu has accused the Federal Government of keeping quiet over her continuous captivity.

“It is very sad and the family is very weak. The mother was even crying this morning because today is her birthday. She is 15 years old today and we are very sad about her absence,” he said.

“To be honest, I have not received any support from the government but from the community and church members. I thank God because they have been encouraging me, lifting me through their prayers, visitation and words of advice,” he added during a live radio programme.

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has, however, said efforts are on to ensure the release of the Leah Sharibu, noting that she will not be abandoned by the Federal Government.

“Negotiations with insurgents are quite tortuous and complicated at times but I can assure you we are not leaving her to her fate and those who should do are busy, daily working on her release,” the Minister said.

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According to an unconfirmed report by The Capital, singer, Davido‘s stake in the private jet he claimed to have bought is but a “fractional ownership”.

The report says the singer’s financial commitment in the arrangement is minimal while the major financiers have chosen to give Davido the opportunity to look more bankable.

The arrangement, the report says, is ultimately aimed at attracting lucrative deals from multinational businesses, countries and other foreign entities.

The major stakeholders in the arrangement are said to have agreed on a sharing percentage of the prospective deals.

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The National Economic Council (NEC), comprising the 36 State Governors has threatened to take over the responsibility of subsidising petroleum products in their states based on consumption, following the huge amount of money being spent annually by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on fuel subsidy payment.

The Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara said the governors would take a decision on whether to take responsibility for the subsidy in their states or not, next month.

“Working with the governors so many decisions were taken but by next month, we are going to adopt that position either for the governors to take responsibility for the subsidy in their states based on the consumption or we look at other ways.”

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A Lagos High Court has issued a restraining order to the Federal Marriage Registry, Ikoyi from conducting marriages, saying such marriages as are not legally binding.

Justice Chuka Obiozor, in granting the order ruled that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to perform the duties of the state and local governments.

The judgement said marriage registries in the local government and local council development areas of Lagos are the authentic and legally-binding government divisions established to carry out such functions.

In reaction, the Federal Government faulted the claims by the Lagos Government that a Federal High Court had shut down the Ikoyi marriage registry, insisting that the report was false.

In a statement, the Director of Legal at the Ministry of Interior, Bola Odugbesan said marriage registration and certification are outside the purview of states and local governments.

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The High Court in Lokoja, Kogi Wednesday granted bail to the Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West), who is standing trial on a gun-running allegation.

Justice Nasir Ajana who admitted Melaye to bail in the sum of N10 million with one surety in like sum gave the ruling based on an application by the defence counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome.

Ozekhome argued that the continued incarceration of Melaye would jeopardise his health condition, which he said was “deteriorating.”

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After six months of back and forth accusations and promises, the two chambers of the National Assembly passed the 2018 budget totalling N9.120, 334,988,225 following the adoption of the report presented by its committee.

The budget, over N500 billion higher than the N8.612 trillion proposed by President Buhari, was presented to a joint session of the assembly in November 2017.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) said, “the increase was done after close consultation with the executive.”

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The nominations for the 2018 BET Awards are out.

Scoring six nominations, including for album of the year, video of the year and best male hip-hop artist, DJ Khaled is followed by Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar, who received five nominations.

Also on the list are two Nigerian singers, Davido and Tiwa Savage nominated in the category of ‘International Act.’

You can see the full list here: 2018 BET Awards.

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Nollywood actress Aisha Abimbola, popularly known as ‘Omoge Campus’, who died on Wednesday, has been buried in Canada according to Islamic rites.

She was buried at exactly 2:30 p.m Canadian time which is 8:30.pm Nigerian time on Thursday, May 17.

She died of cancer at the age of 42.

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The National Economic Council (NEC) has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and 15 other revenue-generating agencies under-paid $21 billion and N526 billion to the Federal Government between 2010 and 2015.

The governor of Gombe, Ibrahim Dakwambo, speaking to newsmen after the NEC meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the council adopted the final report of the KPMG audit of revenue-generating agencies submitted to the NEC ad-hoc committee and ordered the indicted agencies to refund the funds.

Other agencies indicted included the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the Nigerian Customs Service, the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Corporation.