Nollywood actor Emeka Ike has threatened legal action against Lere Olayinka over the alleged exposure of his personal voter information from the database of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ike, who recently contested the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat in Abuja, accused Olayinka of unlawfully accessing and publishing his private information online.
The controversy began after Olayinka posted on his X account that Ike had only transferred his voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory on May 15, 2026, shortly before seeking elective office in Abuja.
In the post, Olayinka shared screenshots that appeared to contain details from an INEC administrative portal, including Ike’s application number, registration centre, voter identification number, profile photograph and date of application.
Speaking on a television programme, Ike described the incident as “the height of political rascality,” condemning what he called the misuse of citizens’ personal information by individuals with access to sensitive government systems.
“It’s quite shocking, extreme, and it is the height of political rascality for a government officer to access a citizen’s information from the INEC cyber,” Ike said.
“He has no right to exploit my privacy and insult Nigerians the way he did. If he has been doing it in the past, this should be the last time he does it.”
The actor also explained that although he initially planned to contest in Imo State, supporters in Abuja persuaded him to run for office in the FCT because of what he described as growing calls for new representation in the area.
Meanwhile, INEC confirmed that one of its staff members with authorised access to the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database is under investigation over the unauthorised disclosure of Ike’s voter record.
In a statement issued by National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna, the commission said preliminary findings showed there was no external hacking of its systems. Instead, the data was allegedly accessed using valid staff credentials assigned for the ongoing CVR exercise.
According to INEC, the audit trail has identified the specific user account involved, while relevant personnel have already been questioned. The commission added that the Department of State Services (DSS) has also launched a parallel investigation into the incident.
INEC maintained that only a single voter record was affected and insisted that the personal information of more than 90 million registered voters remains secure.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also reacted to the incident, warning that the alleged data leak could undermine public confidence in the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
Atiku said the incident raised serious concerns about internal controls within INEC and called for full transparency in the ongoing investigations.
