Patience Jonathan’s attitude cost us defeat — PDP chief

                                                                                       Mrs. Patience Jonathan

Bayelsa State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Osom Makbere, has said President Goodluck Jonathan lost the March 28 presidential election due to international and domestic conspiracies.

Makbere, who is also a lawyer, stated this in an exclusive interview in Yenagoa on Friday.

He said the division in the PDP fold and the overbearing attitude of the President’s wife, Dame Patience, also contributed to the president’s loss.

Giving insight into the failure of the President at the poll, Makbere said, “History has stated that no failure, defeat or loss is a product of a single factor. Jonathan’s loss could be blamed on a multiplicity of interwoven causes.

Businessman faults assassination claim, says friend wooed wife

Victor and Adebayo

A businessman, Adebayo Orekoya, aka Bobby Ibadan, says his friend, Adelakun Victor (Ade Lexus), planned to seduce his wife, Pearl.

He said the claim by Victor that he wanted to assassinate him, was a ploy to distract the police from the truth.

He explained that some men arrested and tagged assassins by the police in Lagos State were actually sent to monitor Victor’s movement so that he could get him (Victor) red handed when he made a pass at Pearl.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the police arrested 46-year-old Adebayo after he allegedly sent a gang from his hometown in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to Lagos to kill Victor at a bar.

IFC, MasterCard expand electronic payment agreement

The International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement with MasterCard Incorporated to establish a risk-sharing facility, which is expected to provide millions of people in emerging markets access to electronic payments.

A statement by MasterCard described the agreement as a crucial step in the organisations’ ongoing collaboration to increase universal financial access by 2020.

“Electronic payments lower the cost and increase the security of transactions, benefitting small businesses and consumers; financial institutions in developing countries are keen to expand services but are often held back by collateral requirements necessary to cover settlement risks,” the statement added.

US embassy saves N20m on electricity charges

                                                                    US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle

The United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, on Wednesday explained how his office had been able to save N20m in electricity charges each year.

Speaking at the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Mentoring Series Earth Day Programme in Abuja, Entwistle noted that poor electricity supply was not helping the nation’s economic development efforts and the environment.

He said, “One area of ongoing concern is Nigeria’s power utility system. We are all frustrated by the sporadic power outages that negatively affect both our personal and professional lives. These disruptions affect nearly all businesses, but are most detrimental to manufacturing companies.

Bode George worked for Tinubu – PDP Chief

                                                                                        Chief Bode George

A Peoples Democratic Party governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Babatunde Gbadamosi, has accused the leader of the party, Chief Bode George, of colluding with the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to ensure PDP’s defeat in Lagos.

He, therefore, called on George to resign immediately.

However, in a swift reaction, George described Gbadamosi as an irresponsible man who may be suffering from a mental problem.

Gbadamosi, who came fourth at the PDP governorship primary last year, said the party would have performed better at the poll if the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Musiliu Obanikoro, was given the ticket.