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

As 2019 draws closer, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, says the commission had 74 million voters in its register by the second week of January – and the target is about 80 million.

Also, Yakubu has assured Nigerians that their votes will determine the outcome of the 2019 general elections and future polls in the country.

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An Oyo State High Court presided over by Justice Olajumoke Aiki on Friday declared the review of the 1957 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration and other Related Chieftaincies in Ibadan land by the Justice Akintunde Boade Review Commission, which was set up by the Oyo State Government, as unconstitutional, illegal, null, void and of no effect.

The commission had recommended, among others, the creation of several monarchs in Ibadan which led to the installation of 21 kings by the state Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

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Senate President Bukola Saraki has said the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) is now awaiting assent of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking during plenary session, Saraki said with passage of the bill by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, the draft law is now ready for the President’s assent.

The House of Representatives has also passed the PIGB, which provides for the governance and institutional framework for the petroleum industry and for other related matters, after third reading.

The 13 year-old 191-page bill (a segment of the entire Bill), seeks to unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), provides for the establishment of Federal Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated, Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company and National Petroleum Company and Petroleum Equalisation Fund.

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The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has said Nigerians must take the fight against corruption like a jihad in order to overcome it.

He said 55 persons stole N1.3tn between 2006 and 2013, adding that Nigerian must engage in the war against corruption.

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Cattle breeders are proposing measures  to tackle the herdsmen-farmers clashes in which many have died.

Their umbrella organisation, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN),  is demanding:

• compensation for its members;
• immediate disarmament of militants; and
• justice for those who died in clashes.

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The reactionary House of Representatives has resolved to probe the reported disappearance of $44 million from the coffers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

The money was said to have been moved from the coffers of the agency to an unknown destination shortly after Ahmed Abubakar was appointed its new director-general.

A similar incident had led to the dismissal of Ayo Oke, the agency’s former DG.

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Terrorist group, Boko Haram on Monday, released a new video showing remaining schoolgirls abducted four years ago from Chibok, Borno.

The video is the first since May last year when another woman who also claimed to be among the 219 seized from the town in Borno said she wanted to stay back.

It was not clear when or where the latest video was recorded but the video was released by Saharareporters.

A group of about 12 girls and young women, some of whom are holding babies, are seen in the video.

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Olakunle Churchill has filed a lawsuit against his former wife, Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, stopping her from featuring their son in the upcoming reality television show, King Tonto to be aired on Linda Ikeji TV.

The lawsuit is an attempt to protect the kid’s rights as captured under the Child Rights Law of Lagos State. Churchill argues that the reality show is adult content and featuring the barely two-year-old boy on it will expose him at a time when he’s unable to make his own decisions.

Fans who have been anticipating the King Tonto reality show will have to wait a little longer as this new development will prevent producers from releasing or airing the show.

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Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has signed a new two-year deal with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

As Head Coach, the Super Eagles emerged as the first African team to qualify for the Russia 2018 World Cup, with a game to spare, as well as recording a 4-2 victory over Argentina in a friendly in Krasnodar in November.

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday dismissed the application by the Indigenous People of Biafra’s request to reverse the court’s order proscribing it and designating it a terrorist organisation.

Delivering his ruling on IPOB’s application, the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High, Justice Abdu Kafarati, resolved all the three formulated issues against the group, and held that September 20, 2017 proscription order was validly issued.