Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over what he described as the unprecedented claim that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) website was hacked following the publication of its report on the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS).
He warned that political interference with data is counterproductive.
In a statement issued by his media office on Thursday, the presidential candidate of the main opposition in the 2023 election described the claim as an “unpleasant development that adds to the bad tidings characterizing the President Bola Tinubu administration.”
He noted that, coming on the heels of recent data published on the NBS website, “it underscores the credibility crisis of the current administration.”
He added: “These are strange times in Nigeria, and it is hoped that the situation at hand is not an underhanded attempt to compromise the integrity of data primarily used for planning, development, and research purposes.
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“Subjecting data and statistics such as those collected, analyzed, and released by the NBS to manipulation or political considerations is counterproductive.
“That is why the claim that the National Bureau of Statistics’ website was hacked—the first such instance in its history—raises concerns about the credibility of the statistics it releases to the public.
“Moreover, the timing of this so-called hack, occurring shortly after the release of damning statistics on security, is highly suspicious.
“We may be tempted to assume that every statistic released by the Bureau is now the result of a hack!”
