Controversy erupts over leaked INEC information

Nollywood actor Emeka Ike is taking steps to hold Lere Olayinka, media aide to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike, accountable for allegedly exposing his personal data from the Independent National Electoral Commission's portal.

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Ike, a native of Imo State, had contested the primaries for the AMAC/Bwari federal constituency ticket on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, but lost, and Olayinka recently shared what appeared to be Ike's voter information via an INEC administrative webpage.

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Olayinka's post on his X handle on Saturday revealed that Ike was a registered voter in Imo State and had only transferred his INEC registration to the FCT on May 15, 2026, just 15 days prior, and questioned his eligibility to contest for House of Reps in Abuja.

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The post included two images with details obtained from INEC's administrative login portal, containing Ike's application number, registration centre, Voter Identification Number, profile picture, name, and date of application, which many users said was a breach of privacy.

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Describing Olayinka's action as the height of political rascality, Ike stated that it was shocking and deplorable for a government officer to access a citizen's information from INEC's cyber portal, and vowed to take action against him.

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Ike explained that he had initially wanted to run in his home state but was persuaded by others to contest the House of Representatives seat in the FCT, and felt that Olayinka's actions were an insult to every Nigerian and a slap on every political party.

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The actor emphasized that he was ready to challenge Olayinka over the alleged exposure of his private details, saying that actions were ready and he would not let Olayinka exploit his privacy and insult Nigerians without consequences.

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Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission has joined forces with the Department of State Services to investigate the leak of Ike's voter data, with INEC tracing the leak to an insider with legitimate access to its Continuous Voter Registration database.

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According to National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee Mohammed Haruna, preliminary findings indicate that there was no external breach of the CVR database, but rather the information was accessed through valid user credentials assigned to personnel participating in the ongoing CVR exercise.

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Haruna stated that the information in question was released without authority, and the commission is examining every technical, administrative, and operational angle of the matter to establish individual responsibility and determine whether internal access-control protocols had been violated.

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The commission has assured that the integrity of the broader voter registration infrastructure is not in question, and only a single voter record had been accessed, with the personal data of over 90 million registered voters remaining secure.

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The DSS has launched its own independent investigation into the breach, and INEC has pledged to cooperate fully with the agency and all other relevant security bodies, warning that anyone found culpable would be referred for prosecution.

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that the unauthorized disclosure of voter information from INEC's CVR database threatens the credibility of the 2027 general election, and has called for full disclosure of the chain of custody of the accessed information and transparency in ongoing investigations.

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Atiku expressed concern that the information was publicly released by Lere Olayinka shortly after Minister Nyesom Wike predicted he would not secure up to 10 per cent of votes in Rivers State in the 2027 presidential election, and stressed that Nigerians would expect accountability to safeguard confidence in the electoral process.