Emeka Ike Sues INEC, Wike’s Aide Lere Olayinka for N10bn Over Alleged Voter Data Leak

• Nollywood actor and politician Emeka Ike has dragged INEC and Lere Olayinka, media aide to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, before a Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding N10 billion in damages over the alleged unlawful disclosure of his personal voter information.

Veteran Nollywood actor and aspiring politician, Emeka Ike, has instituted a N10 billion lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over what he describes as a gross violation of his privacy and personal data rights.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, was filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, June 15, through his lawyer, Leonard Adeh.

The legal action stems from a controversy that erupted in May after Olayinka published screenshots on his X (formerly Twitter) account showing details of Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory.

The information, which appeared to have been obtained from a restricted administrative section of INEC’s voter database, was shared while Olayinka questioned the actor’s eligibility to contest for a seat in the House of Representatives in Abuja following his participation in political primary activities.

The publication immediately sparked widespread public criticism, with many Nigerians expressing concerns over how sensitive voter information from a secured electoral database found its way into the public domain.

Several observers alleged that the screenshots could only have been accessed through an internal INEC platform reserved for authorized electoral personnel, raising fears about the security of citizens’ personal information held by the electoral commission.

Amid the growing controversy, INEC denied reports that its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database had been hacked or externally compromised. The commission maintained that the incident resulted from the misuse of legitimate internal access credentials by authorized personnel rather than a cyberattack.

The matter subsequently attracted the attention of security agencies, with investigators from the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) reportedly questioning both Olayinka and an electoral officer over the alleged leak of voter information from the commission’s restricted portal.

However, Emeka Ike has now taken the matter to court, arguing that the disclosure of his personal records constituted a serious breach of his constitutional rights and data protection laws.

In the suit, the actor is asking the court to declare that Olayinka’s publication of his voter information on social media without his consent amounted to a violation of his fundamental right to privacy as guaranteed under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Sections 24 and 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.

Ike further contends that INEC, as custodian of voters’ information, owes a statutory duty of care to safeguard personal data from unauthorized access, disclosure, and exploitation.

According to the court filings, the actor is also seeking a declaration that INEC’s press statement of June 2, 2026—issued in response to the controversy—amounted to a tacit admission that the commission failed to adequately protect his personal information.

The suit alleges that the electoral body bears responsibility for allowing sensitive voter records under its custody to be accessed and circulated publicly.

Beyond seeking legal declarations, Ike is asking the court to compel Olayinka to immediately remove the social media post containing the screenshots from his X account.

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He is also demanding a written apology from the FCT minister’s aide, to be published on his social media platform and in three national newspapers—The Punch, The Nation, and ThisDay—for two consecutive weeks.

According to the actor, the apology should receive publicity equivalent to the attention generated by the original post that exposed his voter information.

Most significantly, Ike is demanding N10 billion in aggravated and general damages, jointly and severally against both INEC and Olayinka, for what he describes as the gross violation of his constitutional and statutory rights.

The case is expected to test the limits of Nigeria’s emerging data protection regime and could become a landmark legal battle on the responsibility of public institutions to protect citizens’ personal information in the digital age.

The Federal High Court is yet to fix a date for hearing in the matter.