Nollywood actor Emeka Ike has filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over the alleged unauthorised disclosure of his personal voter information.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, was filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 15.
The legal action follows a controversy that erupted in May after Olayinka posted screenshots on X showing details of Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo State to the FCT. The information was shared while Olayinka questioned the actor’s eligibility to contest a House of Representatives seat in Abuja.
The post triggered widespread criticism, with many Nigerians alleging that the information was obtained from a restricted INEC administrative portal accessible only to authorised officials.
Although INEC later denied reports of a major breach or external hacking of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database, the commission acknowledged that the disclosure resulted from the misuse of valid internal credentials by authorised personnel.
Investigators from the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) subsequently questioned Olayinka and an electoral officer over the alleged leak.
In the suit filed through his lawyer, Leonard Adeh, Ike asked the court to declare that the publication of his voter records without his consent violated his constitutional right to privacy and protections guaranteed under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.
According to court documents, the actor argued that Olayinka’s decision to publish the information online “amounts to gross breach and violation of the applicant’s fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data”.
Ike further contended that INEC owes registered voters a statutory duty to safeguard their personal information from unauthorised access and disclosure.
Part of the relief sought by the actor reads: “A declaration that the 1st and 2nd Respondents 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.”
The actor also asked the court to compel Olayinka to remove the post from his X account and issue a written apology.
He is seeking “an order directing the 1st Respondent to immediately retract and pull down the offensive post and publication on his social media X handle” and to publish an unreserved apology on the platform as well as in three national newspapers.
Ike is also demanding N10 billion in aggravated and general damages against INEC and Olayinka for the alleged violation of his privacy rights.
The suit stated that the damages are being sought “for gross breach and violation of his fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data” as guaranteed under the Constitution and the Nigeria Data Protection Act.
The court has yet to fix a date for hearing the matter.
