Emeka Ike's Lawyers Criticize INEC, Plan Legal Action Against Lere Olayinka

The issue around actor Emeka Ike’s voter registration details has become more serious. His lawyers are raising alarms about data privacy, electoral integrity, and public trust in Nigeria’s electoral system.

At a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Ike's legal team condemned the online sharing of details from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) database. They called it a serious violation of privacy rights.

Ike, a well-known Nollywood actor, is running for the House of Representatives seat in the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in the Federal Capital Territory. This is his second attempt in politics.

His competitors include Micah Jiba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), John Gabaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the current office holder, Joshua Obika of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

Ike's first political attempt was in 2018 under the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in Ideato South constituency, Imo State. He lost to Paschal Obi of the Action Alliance (AA).

The lawyers questioned how sensitive voter information ended up online. They said this situation shows weaknesses in protecting personal data held by public institutions.

The issue began with a social media post by Lere Olayinka, an aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. The post included details from Ike’s voter registration record. This sparked debate about data security and access to electoral records.

Lead counsel Leonard Adeh spoke to journalists, saying the incident is not just an attack on his client. It has bigger implications for Nigeria’s democratic institutions.

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."

He added, "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."

Adeh expressed that he and his client were shocked by Olayinka’s decision to leak classified information on social media. He said that this action embarrassed his client and undermined democracy, posing a serious threat to national security.

He stated, "Now, it is a very serious crime against his person, which is something that legal actions, appropriate legal actions, will be taken accordingly."

Adeh mentioned, "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."

Abdulhameed Otori, also at the press conference, said if Olayinka, a ministerial appointee, could leak Ike’s data, then no one’s data is safe with INEC.

He urged the electoral body to formally address the issue and work to regain the trust of Nigerians. He said, "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."

Otori insisted that Olayinka should retract his statement from social media and issue a public apology. He also said that INEC needs to do more than just issue a press release.

"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."

He concluded, "This 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."

Meanwhile, INEC has responded to the issue about how the data was leaked. They released a statement signed by Mohammed Haruna, their National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), on Tuesday. They announced that they have started an investigation into the matter.

INEC said, "The Commission takes this allegation seriously and has immediately commenced a thorough investigation to establish the facts surrounding the incident."

They explained that during the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, authorized INEC Registration Officers had controlled access to parts of the CVR system to register new applicants and update voter records.

The commission also stated that the information shared by Olayinka was meant only for official use. They are looking into all factors related to the incident to find out who is responsible and how it happened.

INEC included that they are checking how access credentials were used and will take action against anyone responsible.

"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."

They added, "Accordingly, relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected with the incident are cooperating fully with the investigation."

INEC’s preliminary findings show no external breach of the CVR database and no hacking incident involving its website. They advised the public and the media to ignore unfounded speculations while the investigations are ongoing.

They said, "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 unauthorized external access to the Commission’s ICT infrastructure."

INEC confirmed that another government agency has also started looking into the matter. They said, "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."

They added that the Department of State Services (DSS) has begun an independent investigation into the matter. INEC promised to cooperate fully with all relevant security agencies and will take legal action against anyone found guilty.