A billionaire supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan hired scandal hit data analytics firm, SCL, to help sway the 2015 Nigeria presidential elections in favour of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, a report has said.
According to report by UK’s The Guardian, SCL, which is the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, was hired by the rich Nigerian over fears that Muhammed Buhari, a retired military and former dictator, may emerge as president.
The report said seven individuals with close knowledge of the Nigeria campaign described how Cambridge Analytica worked with people they believed were Israeli computer hackers.
It alleged that the Cambridge Analytica searched for “kompromat” on Buhari, adding that it was the job of the hackers to help the company access private information on Buhari.
The billionaire, who wanted total discretion, had reportedly contacted Brittany Kaiser, a senior director at Cambridge Analytica, in December 2014.
The duo were said to have met in Washington DC weeks before the election, with the billionaire ready to fund the covert campaign with a whopping $2 million.
“It was the kind of campaign that was our bread and butter,” says one ex-employee in a THE GUARDIAN Report.
“We’re employed by a billionaire who’s panicking at the idea of a change of government and who wants to spend big to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
An ex-employee was also quoted as saying,
“[Kaiser] got a phone call. It was just before Christmas and she flew out to meet them in Washington DC. It was all a bit ridiculous. It was only six to eight weeks before the election and they were looking to spend nearly $2m.
“There were a lot of scared millionaires worried that Buhari would get in. It was all very last-minute. A team flew out to Abuja and put together a communications campaign. It was a straightforward, normal comms campaign in most respects,” the employee said.
There is no suggestion that Jonathan was aware of or implicated in this support.
Another employee said:
“Basically the Israelis didn’t want [Buhari] to win.”
Cambridge Analytica confirmed it was hired to provide “advertising and marketing services in support of the Goodluck Jonathan campaign”. The company, however, denied it took possession of or used any hacked or stolen data
