The controversy surrounding the publication of actor Emeka Ike’s voter registration details has intensified, with his legal team warning that the incident raises broader concerns about data privacy, electoral integrity and public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system.
At a press conference held on Tuesday in Abuja, lawyers representing the actor and House of Representatives aspirant criticised the online circulation of information allegedly obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) database, describing it as a serious violation of privacy rights.
Ike, a Nollywood veteran, is contesting the House of Representatives seat for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in the Federal Capital Territory. It is his second shot at politics.
His political opponents include Micah Jiba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), John Gabaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and incumbent Joshua Obika of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
His first attempt was in 2018 under the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in Imo State’s Ideato South constituency, where he was defeated by Paschal Obi of the Action Alliance (AA).
The lawyers also questioned how sensitive voter information came to be in the public domain, arguing that the development exposes potential weaknesses in the protection of personal data entrusted to public institutions.
The controversy stems from a social media post by Lere Olayinka, an aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, which contained details from Mr Ike’s voter registration record and sparked widespread debate over data security and access to electoral records.
Breach of privacy
Addressing journalists, lead counsel Leonard Adeh said the incident should not be viewed solely as an attack on his client but as a matter with wider implications for the country’s democratic institutions.
Mr Adeh said: “I view this situation, this very saddening situation, from two different perspectives. The first side is on my client, Honourable Emeka. I think this action by Lanre is a serious criminal breach of his right to privacy. Some external laws and regulations deal with situations of this nature.
“The INEC server or INEC database is one of the most sensitive and highly secured databases that one would expect would not be breached. On the other hand, it is also a very serious damage to INEC’s public trust, and it strikes directly at the credibility of INEC in conducting the entire electoral process.”
Legal action
Mr Adeh further stated that he and his client, along with the general public, were equally stunned by Mr Olayinka’s decision to leak highly classified, tightly secured material on his social media platform.
He added that Mr Wike’s aide’s action not only embarrassed his client but also undermined democracy and posed a serious threat to national security.
“Now, it is a very serious crime against his person, which is something that legal actions, appropriate legal actions, will be taken accordingly.
“So we have been reviewing the situation, and we are taking appropriate steps to ensure that we involve relevant law enforcement agencies to deal with the situation, and also consider civil actions. And I must say for a fact that this will eventually result in consequential damages for this reckless and brutal action.”
Demands
However, Abdulhameed Otori, who also spoke at the press conference, stated that if Mr Olayinka, a ministerial appointee, could leak Ike’s data, a figure of global standing, then nobody’s data was safe with INEC.
He added that the electoral body should issue a formal redress and actively work to rebuild the trust that Nigerians had already lost in them.
“If they can do this to a very well-known personality, just under whatever guise, gifting Mr Olayinka information about Mr Emeka Ike, under whatever guise, I keep mentioning this, whatever his intentions were, it is totally unacceptable. It is not only condemnable but also unacceptable, as he has rightfully demanded.
“We all demand that he retract that statement from the social media posting and then issue a public apology. And then the INEC itself should come out. We read that they have issued a press release to that effect. Well, it’s not enough to make a press release, and now redressing the matter”, he said.
Loss of confidence
Moreover, Mr Otori said INEC must act on the matter and demonstrate its impartiality ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
“They’ve engaged in several things that we know; we have almost lost confidence in them. It is just for them to build that confidence back. And this is one of the major steps they can take: not only clarifying their positions but also ensuring they act transparently and remain unbiased in the forthcoming general election. So, to be unbiased, they should act accordingly in this particular matter.
“It is a weighty issue. It’s not a light matter. It’s not something that can be swept under the carpet as we usually think. Mr Lere must have this be the end of his wishful thinking in the media space. You can’t just be going about attacking people, attacking people’s personality. Anyone who does not align with your own interests or your boss’s interests, you attack recklessly. That is not befitting of a person of his age”, he said.
INEC reacts
Meanwhile, INEC has responded to the controversy over how the data was obtained and circulated in a statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Haruna, on Tuesday.
The commission also announced that it had launched an investigation into the matter.
The commission said: “The Commission takes this allegation seriously and has immediately commenced a thorough investigation to establish the facts surrounding the incident.
“As part of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise nationwide, authorised INEC Registration Officers were granted controlled access to specific components of the CVR system to enable them to register new applicants, process requests for transfer of registration and update voter records where necessary.”
Furthermore, the commission said the information allegedly disclosed by Mr Olayinka was intended solely for official use.
INEC added that it was examining all technical, administrative and operational factors linked to the incident to establish individual responsibility and determine how it occurred.
REVIEW & from FINDINGS
The commission also said it was reviewing the circumstances surrounding the use of access credentials, identifying any breaches of internal access-control protocols, and would take appropriate disciplinary action against anyone found culpable.
“Such access is restricted to official duties only and is withdrawn at the conclusion of the exercise. The audit trail from the preliminary investigation has enabled the Commission to identify the user account used to access the information.
“Accordingly, relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected with the incident are cooperating fully with the investigation.”
Additionally, INEC said its preliminary findings revealed no external breach of the CVR database and no hacking incident involving its website.
The commission urged the public and the media to disregard unfounded speculations while investigations continued.
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“The Commission will continue to keep the public informed of its final findings and any measures taken in response to the incident in due course. Preliminary findings from the Commission’s audit trail, however, indicate that there was no external breach of the CVR database, no hacking incident, and no unauthorised external access to the Commission’s ICT infrastructure.
“Rather, the information in question was accessed through valid user credentials assigned to personnel participating in the ongoing CVR exercise but released without authority. The incident under investigation relates to the retrieval of a specific voter record and does not indicate any compromise of the Commission’s broader voter registration infrastructure or the personal data of over 90 million registered voters”, said INEC.
Independent investigation
The commission confirmed that, in addition to its own investigation, another government agency had also begun probing the matter.
“The Commission wishes to state categorically that it takes the security, confidentiality and integrity of voter data with the utmost seriousness and remains committed to transparency, institutional integrity, and the protection of voters’ personal information.
“Furthermore, the Department of State Services (DSS), on its own accord, has commenced an independent investigation into the matter. The Commission will continue to cooperate fully with all relevant security agencies and will not hesitate to refer any person found culpable for appropriate legal action”, INEC said.
