How UK, Israeli firms colluded to manipulate 2015 elections but failed

In 2015, two foreign companies tried to rig the Nigerian presidential election to help president Goodluck Jonathan win the presidential election again.

They failed.

Eight years later, the plan to undermine the current candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari for Mr. Jonathan, will be revealed by The Guardian of London.

Mr. Buhari is contesting in the All Progressives Congress (APC), while Mr. Jonathan is seeking re-election as president of Nigeria in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The business of manipulating elections

In early 2015, Team Jorge, a hacking and disinformation company led by Isreali cyber attackers, reached an agreement with the British political persuasion consulting organization, Cambridge Analytica. The two companies then embarked on a secret mission to hack Nigeria’s electoral process to ensure Mr. Jonathan retained presidential power.

The brains behind Team Jorge, the Guardian revealed, Tel Hanan, who boasts of having worked covertly in more than 33 “presidential level” election campaigns on behalf of clients. Mr. Hannan’s clothing and Cambridge Analytica will work “in parallel” in Nigeria for the same clients and goals.

The secret collaboration of the two companies was described by the investigators as a secret mission “to deceive the largest democracy in Africa”.

Hacking Nigeria’s electoral system

The company acted by hacking into Nigeria’s electoral system, targeting APC’s strategic moves. A series of emails exchanged between Team Jorge – obtained by investigators – revealed how election manipulators worked tirelessly to amass electoral fortunes for Mr. Jonathan.

The Guardian describes the clandestine movement as “the dark art of politics”.

He first found a way to film some secret meetings of Mr. Buhari’s presidential campaign team, using moles, to gain access to rare information that could be used by Mr. Jonathan’s ruling party.

The election machine company claimed to have known about the postponement of the 2015 election – for a week – in advance and admitted it was possible.

Not knowing they were being filmed, the election hacker told the Guardian’s undercover reporter posing as a potential client, in a slideshow, how they provide election-influencing services in Nigeria.

One of the hidden clips, for example, shows Mr Hanan, the leader of Team Jorge, showing how he hacked Gmail and Telegram accounts “to obtain intelligence that can be used against political enemies”.

In another slideshow titled, “Wreaking havoc during African Election Day”, Mr. Hannan showed how, on Election Day, the covert team unleashed a cyber attack on the leadership of Mr. Buhari’s APC to set people off balance.

Lai Muhammad, who later became APC spokesperson, was one of the targets. On Election Day, the calls suddenly stopped; he could not receive or call anyone.

“We were in the party situation room on the morning of the presidential election, only to find that the phone line had been blocked,” the Guardian quoted a source. “He cannot receive or make calls, and this is very serious because he is the wire of the opposition.”

The disturbing election manipulator is also reported to have produced a series of YouTube video content, research works and stories in support of Jonathan’s campaign.

Despite the cyber interference of foreign companies, however, Mr. Buhari defeated Mr. Jonathan to become the president of Nigeria.

The covert mission to manipulate Nigeria’s democracy failed.