"Cambridge Analytica manipulated Nigeria’s 2007 elections for PDP" - Report

An oil billionaire supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan hired SCL Elections to paint President Muhammadu Buhari bad in the buildup to the 2015 elections.

The parent company of Cambridge Analytica, SCL Elections, reportedly interfered in Nigeria’s 2007 elections by organising campaigns to weaken the chances of opposition parties.

BBC reported that 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.

SCL Elections reportedly boasted about interfering in foreign elections, according to documents reportedly seen by the BBC.

The company claimed in its brochure that it organised rallies in Nigeria to weaken support for the opposition in 2007.

The brochure outlines how SCL Elections had apparently organised rallies to dissuade opposition supporters from voting in the Nigerian presidential election in 2007.

The election was widely disputed and condemned by observers as a “charade”.

Yar’Adua, who died in office in 2010, personally admitted that the process was flawed and convened a government of national unity.

His successor Goodluck Jonathan also described the election as a huge embarrassment.

The 2007 election was equally described by EU monitors as one of the least credible they had observed.

Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku Abubakar and Orji Kalu came second, third and fourth, respectively, in that election.

Electoral commission head Maurice Iwu declared Yar’Adua of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) the winner with 24.6 million votes, far ahead of his closest rival, Muhammadu Buhari, with 6.6 million.

Then candidate, President Buhari, challenged the ‘blatantly rigged’ election in the court, with the judges arriving at a split verdict.

Buhari also called for the impeachment of President Olusegun Obasanjo, who appeared to have organised the ‘charade’ in cahoot with Iwu.

The revelations come in the wake of ongoing controversies surrounding the activities of Cambridge Analytica.

The firm was accused of obtaining data of Facebook users for election strategic that have been called into question across the world.

Reacting to the various allegations flying around, the acting CEO of Cambridge Analytica, Dr Alexander Tayler, said in a statement that “Cambridge Analytica was formed in 2013, out of a much older company called SCL Elections.

“We take the disturbing recent allegations of unethical practices in our non-US political business very seriously. The board has launched a full and independent investigation into SCL Elections’ past practices, and its findings will be made available in due course.”

A report by Guardian UK reveals that fixers hired by the billionaire in support of the Jonathan campaign hacked into Buhari’s personal data.

Cambridge Analytica is reputed as one of the factors responsible for the outcome of the US presidential election and the Brexit vote of 2016.

The Nigerian oil billionaire whose identity was not revealed reportedly committed a large amount of money in order stop Buhari from winning the 2015 presidential election.

The reports also claimed that the fixers for the Jonathan campaign hacked into Buhari’s medical and financial records, in a desperate attempt to scare the electorates and changed their decisions to vote for President Buhari.