The Federal Government has commenced an investigation into the recent revelation that ahead of the 2015 general elections, a Nigerian billionaire and supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan paid £2m to Cambridge Analytica, to hack into the medical records of President Muhammadu Buhari, then the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
The government is also probing the report which suggested that the consulting firm that combines data mining, brokerage and analysis with strategic communications for electoral process manipulated Nigeria’s 2007 elections by organising campaigns to weaken the chances of opposition parties.
A presidency source reportedly disclosed this to Punch in Abuja on Sunday.
“The government of Nigeria is scrutinising the reports of the data mining firm, Cambridge Analytica, which swiped the data of more than 50 million Facebook users to sway elections in many countries, including Nigeria, where it waged a campaign to perpetuate discord and hack into personal records of the then leading opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari,” the source said.
He said 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 Presidency official added.
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.
Shehu, however, said it was the rights of Nigerians for the PDP, Facebook and Cambridge Analytical to explain their roles in the matter.
The presidential spokesman said he was of the view that a proper investigation would reveal if there were correlations between the violence that characterised past elections in the country and the revelation.
He said, “Nigerians deserve answers from the PDP, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica on how and why they improperly obtained and used data to interfere in Nigerian elections.
“An investigation should help to determine if there is a linkage between the various killings and maiming that have characterised our elections since 2007 and the misinformation activities of the Cambridge Analytica.
“Such investigation will also help President Buhari to achieve his wish to leave a legacy of improved elections.”
A former employee of Cambridge Analytica, Christopher Wylie, had told British lawmakers how an Israeli spy firm, ‘Black Cube,’ was “engaged to hack into Buhari accounts to get access to his medical records and private emails.”
Cambridge Analytica had earlier been reported to have been hired by an unnamed Nigerian billionaire to support the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election in which Buhari was his main contender.
According to reports, SCL Elections, a public relations firm that later became Cambridge Analytica, manipulated Nigeria’s 2007 elections by organising campaigns to weaken the chances of opposition parties.
As part of its engagement, the company was said to have organised “anti-election rallies” to demoralise supporters of opposition parties from voting in the elections, which saw the emergence of Umar Yar’Adua as the Nigeria’s President.
The Cambridge Analytica team reportedly came up with a video that portrayed Buhari as a leader who would enforce Sharia Law in Nigeria with the intention to sway the minds of millions of Nigerians and persuade them to vote for the PDP candidate.
Currently, the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook are the focus of an inquiry into data and politics by the British Information Commissioner’s Office, the United States Special Counsel, Robert Mueller. The UK Electoral Commission is also investigating the role Cambridge Analytica played in the EU referendum.
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