- Former President Goodluck Jonathan has insisted that he was not aware of the alleged electoral fraud committed by Cambridge Analytica
- He also chided mischief makers for seeking to drag the Peoples Democratic Party into the fiasco
- He pointed out that the whistleblower who originated the allegation has been consistent in associating it to an unnamed businessman; not linked to the party or the Jonathan campaign
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, immediate past president of Nigeria, has insisted that he was not aware of the alleged electoral fraud raised against top UK data firm, Cambridge Analytica, The Nation reports.
The reports of the firm are reportedly being scrutinized by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, following reports that it stole the data of more than 50 million Facebook users in order to sway elections in many countries, including Nigeria.
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NAIJ.com learnt in 2007, the firm reportedly waged a campaign to hack into personal records of the then leading opposition candidate, Buhari, and perpetuate discord.
Jonathan’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, released a statement on Thursday, April 5, which read: “My attention has been drawn to a trending story entitled: ‘Jonathan unaware PDP used Cambridge Analytica, spokesman claims’.
“I write to clarify that there is an element of mischief in the story, with the reporter disingenuously seeking to drag the Peoples Democratic Party into the report, and make the party look like an accomplice, in a case it was not even mentioned.
“The truth is that in my reaction to a question from an AFP reporter in a telephone chat on whether the former president knew about the alleged involvement of Cambridge Analytica in the 2015 elections, I had simply responded thus: “All the stories written about the subject so far had all clarified that Dr Goodluck Jonathan was not aware of such attempt, if there were any.”
He continued: “Although I was correctly quoted, to the effect that ‘former President Jonathan was not aware of it,’ I consider the attempt to link my response with an orchestrated PDP involvement in the allegation as simply preposterous.
“This is because the PDP was neither mentioned in the scandal nor came up in my chat with the reporter.
“It is instructive that the whistleblower who originated the allegation has been consistent in associating it to an unnamed businessman, who was neither linked to the party nor to the Jonathan campaign.
“It is, therefore, deceitful for any pundit to blame the allegation on the PDP or anybody close to the former president, even before investigations were concluded.”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that a video showing how top UK data firm, Cambridge Analytica, allegedly sought to influence the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria, was released by UK Guardian.
A Nigerian billionaire reportedly hired Cambridge Analytica to run a campaign in support of former president Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection bid.
In the video, graphic images were shown, in a bid to portray then-candidate Muhammadu Buhari as a supporter of Sharia law who would brutally suppress dissenters and negotiate with extremist groups.
Jonathan replies to Buhari's allegations - on NAIJ.com TV:
Source: Naija.ng