Former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed skepticism regarding the recent announcement by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) about a cyberattack that compromised its official website, labeling the situation as “suspicious.”
This assertion was made in a statement released by the Atiku Media Office, which highlighted that this incident marks the first time the bureau has faced such a cyber breach, raising significant concerns.
On Wednesday, the NBS took to its X account (previously known as Twitter) to inform the public about the hacking, assuring citizens that measures are being implemented to restore the website.
“We wish to notify the public that our website has been compromised, and we are actively working to recover it. Please ignore any messages or reports until the site is fully operational again. Thank you,” the statement indicated.
In response, Atiku’s media office emphasized the critical role that accurate data and statistics play in national development. They pointed out that this incident follows the recent release of data from the NBS regarding the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS), which they claim highlights a credibility crisis within the current government.
“These are troubling times for Nigeria, and we hope this incident is not a covert effort to undermine the integrity of data essential for planning, development, and research,” the statement read.
Manipulating or exaggerating data and statistics produced by the NBS is deemed detrimental, according to Atiku’s team.
“The assertion that the NBS’s website was hacked for the first time in its history raises red flags about the reliability of the statistics disseminated to the public,” they concluded.
