Atiku criticises Tinubu govt over hack of NBS website

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the administration of President Bola Tinubu over the alleged hack of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) website.

In a statement signed by his Media Office on Thursday, Atiku stressed the importance of data fidelity for development purposes.

“The unprecedented claim that the website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has been hacked is an unpleasant development that adds to the bad tidings that have characterised the President Bola Tinubu administration,” Atiku stated.

“This development, which comes on the heels of the recent data published on the NBS website regarding the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS), underscores the credibility crisis of the current administration.

“These are strange times in Nigeria, and it is hoped that the situation at hand is not an underhand attempt to undermine the integrity of data, which is essential for planning, development, and research purposes.”

Atiku warned that manipulating data and statistics released by the NBS for political purposes is counterproductive.

He noted that the claim of a hack on the NBS website, reportedly the first in its history, should raise concerns about the credibility of the statistics it provides to the public.

The former Vice President further expressed suspicion over the timing of the hack, noting that it occurred shortly after the release of damning statistics on security.

“We may be tempted to assume that every statistic released by the Bureau is an outcome of a hack!” Atiku concluded.

The NBS confirmed the hack on Wednesday night through a post on its official X account.

It urged Nigerians to disregard any messages or reports posted on the website until it is fully restored.

“This is to inform the public that the NBS website has been hacked, and we are working to recover it. Please disregard any message or report posted until the website is fully restored. Thank you,” the bureau stated.

The NBS did not provide a specific timeframe for resolving the issue or restoring the website’s functionality.

This incident occurred weeks after the NBS website received a facelift and just a day after it published the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS).

The report detailed the prevalence of crime across Nigeria, revealing that approximately 614,937 Nigerians were murdered within one year.