Emeka Ike, a Nollywood actor, has lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, media aide to Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over alleged breach of personal data.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, was filed at the federal high court in Abuja on Monday, June 15.

BACKGROUND

In May, Olayinka shared screenshots on X, showing details of Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo state to the nation’s capital city.

TheFCT minister’s media aide posted the information — which appeared to have been obtained from a restricted administrative portal of the INEC — while questioning the actor’s eligibility to contest a house of representatives’ seat in Abuja following his recent primary activities.

The post sparked outrage, with many Nigerians accusing Olayinka of gaining unauthorised access to a password-protected backend system meant only for INEC officials.

Subsequently, INEC dismissed claims of a major breach or external hacking of its continuous voter registration (CVR) database.

The electoral umpire attributed the unauthorised disclosure of Ike’s voter information to the misuse of valid internal credentials by authorised personnel.

Investigators from the force intelligence department – intelligence response team (FID-IRT) also grilled Olayinka and an electoral officer over the alleged leak of voter data from the INEC portal.

THE SUIT

In the suit, the Nollywood actor, through his counsel, Leonard Adeh, asked the court to declare that Olayinka’s decision to publish his database on X without his approval “amounts to gross breach and violation of the applicant’s fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data”.

Ike argued that section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, Article 12 of the universal declaration of human rights, and sections 24 & 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 guaranteed his right to privacy and protection of personal data.

The actor asked the court to deckare that INEC owes him and other voters a “statutory duty of care” to protect their private data against unauthorised access.

He is praying the court to award him N10 billion against INEC and Olayinka for violating his fundamental right to privacy.

“A DECLARATION that the Press release by INEC dated 2 June 2026, in reaction to the viral publication and circulation of the Applicant’s personal voter information and private data on the social media by the 1st Respondent (Olayinka), amounts to a tacit admission of guilt and liability to the Applicant, for failure to ensure strict protection, safety and security of the Applicant’s personal voter records and private data, statutorily under its care, custody and protection, which the 1st Respondent accessed, exploited and published on the social media in contravention of the Applicant’s fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data, respectively guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended), Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and sections 24 & 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023,” part of the suit reads.

“A DECLARATION that the 1st and 2nd Respondent (INEC) 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, respectively guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended), Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and sections 24 & 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.

“AN ORDER directing the 1st Respondent to immediately retract and pull down the offensive post and publication on his social media X handle, @OlayinkaLere, containing screenshots of the Applicant’s personal voter information and private data, unlawfully obtained from INEC’s restricted portal and secured database and to immediately tender an unreserved apology in writing, to the Applicant for the breach and violation of his fundamental right and publish same on the 1st Respondent’s social media X handle, @OlayinkaLere, and also published in three (3) National Daily Newspapers: (The Punch, The Nation and This day), to run consecutively for two (2) weeks, in order that the written apology shall be widely circulated and made to go viral, replicating the similar publicity and attention, the offensive post and publication by the 1st Respondent, received on his social media X handle and public space.

“N10,000,000,000.00 (TEN BILLION NAIRA) as aggravated and general damages, jointly and severally against the 1st and 2nd Respondents, in favour of the Applicant, for gross breach and violation of his fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data, respectively guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended), Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and sections 24 & 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.”