Emeka Ike, a Nollywood actor, has lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, media aide to Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over alleged breach of personal data.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, was filed at the
federal high court in Abuja on Monday, June 15.
BACKGROUND
In May, Olayinka shared screenshots on X, showing details of
Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo state to the nation’s capital city.
TheFCT minister’s media aide posted the information — which
appeared to have been obtained from a restricted administrative portal of the
INEC — while questioning the actor’s eligibility to contest a house of
representatives’ seat in Abuja following his recent primary activities.
The post sparked outrage, with many Nigerians accusing
Olayinka of gaining unauthorised access to a password-protected backend system
meant only for INEC officials.
Subsequently, INEC dismissed claims of a major breach or
external hacking of its continuous voter registration (CVR) database.
The electoral umpire attributed the unauthorised disclosure
of Ike’s voter information to the misuse of valid internal credentials by
authorised personnel.
Investigators from the force intelligence department –
intelligence response team (FID-IRT) also grilled Olayinka and an electoral
officer over the alleged leak of voter data from the INEC portal.
THE SUIT
In the suit, the Nollywood actor, through his counsel,
Leonard Adeh, asked the court to declare that Olayinka’s decision to publish
his database on X without his approval “amounts to gross breach and violation
of the applicant’s fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal
data”.
Ike argued that section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, Article
12 of the universal declaration of human rights, and sections 24 & 39 of
the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 guaranteed his right to privacy and
protection of personal data.
The actor asked the court to deckare that INEC owes him and
other voters a “statutory duty of care” to protect their private data against
unauthorised access.
He is praying the court to award him N10 billion against
INEC and Olayinka for violating his fundamental right to privacy.
“A DECLARATION that the Press release by INEC dated 2 June
2026, in reaction to the viral publication and circulation of the Applicant’s
personal voter information and private data on the social media by the 1st
Respondent (Olayinka), amounts to a tacit admission of guilt and liability to
the Applicant, for failure to ensure strict protection, safety and security of
the Applicant’s personal voter records and private data, statutorily under its
care, custody and protection, which the 1st Respondent accessed, exploited and
published on the social media in contravention of the Applicant’s fundamental
right to privacy and the protection of personal data, respectively guaranteed
under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended),
Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and sections 24 &
39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023,” part of the suit reads.
“A DECLARATION that the 1st and 2nd Respondent (INEC) are jointly liable and responsible to
the Applicant for breach and gross violation of the Applicant’s fundamental
right to privacy and the protection of personal data, respectively guaranteed
under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended),
Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and sections 24 &
39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.
“AN ORDER directing the 1st Respondent to immediately
retract and pull down the offensive post and publication on his social media X
handle, @OlayinkaLere, containing screenshots of the Applicant’s personal voter
information and private data, unlawfully obtained from INEC’s restricted portal
and secured database and to immediately tender an unreserved apology in
writing, to the Applicant for the breach and violation of his fundamental right
and publish same on the 1st Respondent’s social media X handle, @OlayinkaLere,
and also published in three (3) National Daily Newspapers: (The Punch, The
Nation and This day), to run consecutively for two (2) weeks, in order that the
written apology shall be widely circulated and made to go viral, replicating
the similar publicity and attention, the offensive post and publication by the
1st Respondent, received on his social media X handle and public space.
“N10,000,000,000.00 (TEN BILLION NAIRA) as aggravated and
general damages, jointly and severally against the 1st and 2nd Respondents, in
favour of the Applicant, for gross breach and violation of his fundamental
right to privacy and the protection of personal data, respectively guaranteed
under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended),
Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and sections 24 &
39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.”
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