CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA SCANDAL: Fani-Kayode directs APC to where it should ask questions

Erstwhile Aviation Minister and Media Director for former President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has nothing to do with the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

He said that the Presidency rather than accusing the PDP of allegedly hacking information during the 2015 election should instead establish the name of the Nigerian billionaire mentioned in the scandal and pose their questions to him.

Fani-Kayode, who stated this when he appeared on Channels Television’s Programme, Sunday Politics, was reacting to a statement the Presidency released through Special Adviser to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

Shehu had in the statement said that the PDP should stop “false alarms” against Buhari government but should, instead, “address the concerns raised about their role in the mass data harvesting at the heart of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, following the revelation that they hacked into Candidate Muhammadu Buhari’s personal data in the run up to the 2015 general elections.”

Cambridge Analytica, a UK-based company stirred controversies when it was earlier accused of obtaining data of Facebook users for election manipulation.

An ex-employee of the company, had alleged that the firm was contacted by a Nigerian billionaire, whose name was not mentioned, to interfere in Nigeria’s 2015 elections by hiring hackers to dig up information about Buhari who was a candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

The ex-employee of Cambridge Analytica, who made the revelation during an interview with Guardian UK added that the unnamed billionaire was a businessman who wanted to ensure former President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election.

But Fani-Kayode responding on the allegation said, “As far as the presidential campaign organisation is concerned, we have absolutely no links whatsoever with this company or with anybody that seeks to do anything that is illegal or criminal or to undermine any government or anyone that wants to run for an electoral position in this country.

READ ALSO: Stop needless ranting, respond to your role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Presidency tells PDP

“At no point was the PDP Campaign organisation mentioned or anybody that was the member of the PDP mentioned in this allegation. The report had no evidence to suggest that Jonathan was involved.

“I know former President Jonathan enjoyed a lot of goodwill in a number of places. What the report said was that a billionaire who was Jonathan’s friend and a couple of his agents met them and asked them to find information in an illegal manner.

“I think what should be done is to establish the name of this Nigerian billionaire and pose these questions to them and not to us,” he added.

On how the PDP got information about Buhari’s medical and academic records which the party hotly used to campaign against him in 2015, Fani-Kayode said it was through his prowess as a historian and a professional who asks a lot of questions.

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