Nollywood actor Emeka Ike has instituted a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged unauthorized disclosure of his voter registration information.
According to court documents cited in the report, the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, was filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 15, 2026.
The legal action follows the circulation of details relating to Emeka’s voter registration transfer from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory, which were shared by Olayinka on his verified X account in May.
According to court documents filed by the actor through his lawyer, Leonard Adeh, the publication of the information without his consent amounted to a violation of his constitutional right to privacy and the protection of personal data.
The actor alleged that the information was obtained from a restricted section of INEC’s voter registration system and subsequently published without his authorization.
The controversy emerged after Olayinka shared screenshots showing Emeka’s voter registration transfer while questioning his qualification to participate in political activities linked to a House of Representatives seat in Abuja.
INEC had earlier reacted to the incident, stating that its Continuous Voter Registration database was not hacked, but attributing the disclosure to the misuse of valid internal credentials by authorized personnel.
The actor is asking the court to declare that the publication of his voter information constituted a breach of his rights under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and relevant provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
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“N10,000,000,000.00 as aggravated and general damages, jointly and severally against the 1st and 2nd Respondents, in favor of the Applicant, for the gross breach and violation of his fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data,” part of the court filing read.
He also contended that INEC has a statutory responsibility to safeguard the personal information of registered voters and prevent unauthorized access to such records.
Among the reliefs sought Emeka is requesting an order directing Olayinka to remove the publication from his X account and issue a written apology.
The actor is also seeking N10 billion in aggravated and general damages against both INEC and Olayinka over the alleged breach of privacy and unlawful disclosure of personal data.
In addition, he asked the court to hold both respondents jointly liable for the alleged violation of his rights and compel the publication of an apology in national newspapers.
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