The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a N10 billion fundamental rights lawsuit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against Lere Olayinka, a Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Salim Ibrahim upheld the preliminary objections raised by the defendants, ruling that the case was improperly constituted and therefore incompetent. The court also dismissed the substantive suit, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to support Ike’s claims.
The dispute stemmed from a social media post by Olayinka in May 2026, which allegedly revealed details of Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo State to Abuja. Ike, who had sought the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket to contest the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency House of Representatives seat ahead of the 2027 elections, claimed the publication violated his constitutional right to privacy and data protection.
Through his lawyer, L.T. Adeh, Ike argued that Olayinka’s publication of his voter registration information on X (formerly Twitter) amounted to a breach of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. He also accused INEC of failing in its duty to safeguard voters’ personal information.
The actor asked the court to award N10 billion in general and aggravated damages against both defendants and sought orders compelling Olayinka to remove the post and issue a written apology.
However, both INEC and Olayinka denied wrongdoing and urged the court to dismiss the action. INEC maintained that the information referenced in the suit was neither confidential nor sensitive, arguing that voter registration details are subject to publication under the Electoral Act 2026. The commission further stated that there was no breach of its database and that the information allegedly shared by Olayinka did not originate from INEC’s systems.
Olayinka also contended that the published material contained only Ike’s name and passport photograph, information he said was already publicly available. He maintained that no duty of confidentiality existed regarding the data and argued that individuals seeking public office could not claim injury from the circulation of information already in the public domain.
According to Olayinka, the publication was intended to highlight the recent transfer of Ike’s voter registration and draw attention to relevant electoral provisions. After considering the arguments, the court ruled in favour of the defendants, dismissing both the preliminary and substantive claims brought by the actor.
The decision brings an end to the highly publicised legal battle over alleged privacy violations arising from the publication of voter registration information.
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