A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday adjourned until July 22 the N10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The case, with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, came up before Justice S.O. Ibrahim. Counsel to the plaintiff, L.T. Adeh, informed the court that the first respondent (Olayinka) had filed and served a response to the suit. He noted that hearing notices had been served on both respondents, but INEC (the second respondent) was absent from the proceedings. Adeh therefore sought an adjournment to allow INEC to appear.
Counsel for the first respondent, Akpama Ekwe, did not oppose the request for adjournment but indicated readiness to proceed. The plaintiff’s lawyer also stated that a response to the first respondent’s counter-affidavit would be filed between Thursday and Friday.
Justice Ibrahim granted the short adjournment in the interest of fair hearing and to give INEC the opportunity to participate. Despite Ekwe’s argument that INEC could not be compelled to appear and a plea to fix the matter for hearing, the judge maintained the need for the electoral body’s involvement. The court further ordered that INEC be served with all necessary processes and hearing notices before the next date.
The suit arose from allegations that Ike’s personal voter registration details were unlawfully disclosed on Olayinka’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle. Screenshots showing the transfer of Ike’s voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory had circulated on social media.
Ike claims the information was published without his consent, allegedly after being accessed from a restricted INEC administrative portal. He is seeking N10 billion in damages for the alleged breach of his right to privacy, an order for the removal of the social media post, and a public apology.
INEC has maintained that the incident stemmed from the misuse of authorised internal access credentials rather than a cyberattack on its database.
After the hearing, Ekwe described the plaintiff’s evidence as “inadmissible,” insisting his client did not breach any law. He noted that the published information was already in the public domain and did not contain sensitive personal data beyond basic details like name, transfer number, and passport photograph.
On the other hand, Adeh expressed confidence in the case, stating that INEC appeared to have no defence and had been avoiding proceedings. He described the suit as a potential precedent to protect voters’ data privacy and prevent future breaches.
The matter has now been adjourned to July 22 for further mention.
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