Voter Data Leak: Police arrest INEC officer, interrogate Wike’s aide, Lere Olayinka

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By Kingsley Omonobi

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ABUJA — The Nigeria Police Force has commenced an investigation into the alleged unauthorised access and leakage of classified voter information from the database of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), leading to the arrest of an INEC official and the interrogation of a media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

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Senior police sources confirmed on Wednesday that operatives of the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) are probing allegations of database misuse, cyber-related offences and the unauthorised disclosure of sensitive national documents belonging to INEC.

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As part of the investigation, an INEC electoral officer, whose identity has not been disclosed, has been taken into custody, while Lere Olayinka, media aide to the FCT Minister, was questioned by investigators on Tuesday at the Police Headquarters in Abuja.

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The probe followed a petition reportedly filed on behalf of INEC, alleging criminal conspiracy, cyber intimidation and the unlawful release of classified electoral records.

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The controversy arose after Olayinka shared screenshots on social media purportedly showing details of a voter registration transfer involving Nollywood actor and politician, Emeka Ike, from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory.

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The post, which came amid questions surrounding Ike’s eligibility to contest a House of Representatives seat in the FCT following his criticism of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primary process, triggered widespread reactions.

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Many Nigerians questioned how the information was obtained, alleging that it could only have come from INEC’s restricted voter registration database.

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Responding to the controversy on Tuesday, INEC denied reports of a breach or hacking of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database, insisting that the disclosure resulted from the misuse of legitimate internal access credentials by an authorised official.

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Investigations revealed that the detained electoral officer allegedly initiated contact with Olayinka through Facebook Messenger before forwarding voter registration documents to him via WhatsApp.

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The documents were reportedly intended to show that Emeka Ike’s voter transfer request had recently been initiated and had not yet received final approval.

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During his interrogation, Olayinka reportedly told investigators that he had no prior relationship with the INEC official and was unaware that the documents shared with him were classified.

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Sources said he maintained that the electoral officer did not indicate that the information was confidential or restricted.

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Meanwhile, the Department of State Services (DSS) has also launched a parallel investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disclosure of the voter information.

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Police authorities are said to be considering possible charges against both the INEC official and Olayinka, including criminal conspiracy, cyber-related offences, unlawful disclosure of classified information and actions capable of causing a breach of public peace.

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