The government is probing the report which suggested that the consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica which combines data mining, brokerage and analysis with strategic communications for the electoral process, manipulated Nigeria’s 2007 elections by organising campaigns to weaken the chances of opposition parties.
According to the reports, Cambridge Analytica worked with Israeli hackers who were instructed to get dirt on Buhari during the presidential campaigns.
Cambridge Analytica, previously known as SCL Elections, is said to have manipulated Nigeria’s 2007 elections by organising campaigns to weaken the chances of opposition parties.
“As part of its engagement, the company organised ‘anti-election rallies’ to demoralise opposition supporters from voting in the elections, which saw the emergence of Umar Yar’Adua as Nigeria’s president.
A presidency official said that the government had set up what he called an in-house committee to investigate whether the firm’s work for the then ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, in the 2007 and 2015 electioneering broke the laws of the country or infringed on the rights of other parties and their candidates.
“Depending on the outcome, it can lead to the appointment of a special investigator and possibly, criminal prosecutions by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN),” the adds.
When contacted on the matter, the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said he had not been briefed on the issue.
He, however, said it was the rights of Nigerians for the PDP, Facebook and Cambridge Analytical to explain their roles in the matter.
(NAN)
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