2015 elections: I wasn’t aware PDP contacted Cambridge Analytica – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday reacted to allegations that his party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP use Cambridge Analytica to influence the 2015 presidential elections which he lost to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The former president said he “wasn’t aware” of such moves by his party.

Recall that the Federal Government is probing claims that Cambridge Analytica, a British-based political consultancy, illegally used Facebook data in past election campaigns for the People’s Democratic Party.

In a press statement released Sunday, the federal government said it was probing whether the firm broke the law to wage “a campaign to perpetuate discord and hack into personal records of the then leading opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.”

The campaign also included “anti-election rallies” and a gory video depicting Buhari as an Islamic fundamentalist on a quest to enforce Sharia law in Nigeria, said the statement.

“He wasn’t aware of it,” spokesman Ikechukwu Eze said on Thursday, referring to former president Jonathan.

When asked about the probe, Eze replied: “The best thing to do is to wait for the conclusion of the investigation.”

Jonathan emerged the country’s president in 2010, after the death of President  Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He contested in 2011 and won. He sought reelection in 2015 but lost to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Regulators in Britain and the United States are investigating claims that Cambridge Analytica unlawfully used Facebook data for political ends in a mushrooming privacy scandal that has cast the spotlight on data protection.