THE Federal Government has launched an investigation into the reports of data mining by Cambridge Analytica, which was said to have obtained the personal data of the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari during the 2015 presidential election.
An unsigned statement which emanated from the presidency on Sunday observed that the firm 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 presidency source said that the federal government has set up an in-house committee to investigate whether Cambridge Analytica’s work for the then ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in 2007 and 2015 general elections campaigns broke the laws of this country or infringed on the rights of other parties and their candidates.
It added: “Depending on the outcome, this may lead to the appointment of a special investigator and possibly, criminal prosecutions by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.”
The source recalled that a whistleblower, Christopher Wylie who worked with a Cambridge University academic to obtain the data, told the Observer, a UK newspaper that: ‘We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on.”
Among those whose personal data was hacked into in 2015 was the then opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, it noted.
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It also pointed out that Cambridge Analytica, according to the reports, worked with Israeli hackers who were instructed to get dirt on Muhammadu Buhari during the presidential campaign.
The Presidency source said SCL Elections, a public relations firm that later became Cambridge Analytica, according to reports, manipulated Nigeria’s 2007 by organising campaigns to weaken the chances of opposition parties.
It added: “As part of its engagement, the company organized ‘anti-election rallies’ to demoralize opposition supporters from voting in the elections, which saw the emergence of Umar Yar’Adua as Nigeria’s president.
“The Cambridge Analytica team came up with a video to portray Candidate Buhari as a leader who would enforce Sharia Law in Nigeria. It was intended to sway the minds of millions of Nigerians and 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 and, separately, the U K Electoral Commission is also investigating what role Cambridge Analytica played in the EU referendum.”
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, who commented on that matter, said that although he had not been briefed on the issue, Nigerians deserved answers immediately from the PDP administration, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica on how and why they improperly obtained and used data to interfere in Nigerian elections.
He said an investigation should help to determine if there is a linkage between the various killings and maimings that have characterized our elections since 2007 and the misinformation activities of the Cambridge Analytica (CA) data flows.
He said it will also help President Buhari achieve his wish to leave a legacy of improved elections.
The post FG investigates Cambridge Analytica over Buhari’s data ―Presidency appeared first on Tribune.
FG investigates Cambridge Analytica over Buhari’s data ―Presidency
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