Court Adjourns Emeka Ike’s ₦10bn Privacy Breach Suit Against INEC, Wike’s Aide

Court Adjourns Emeka Ike’s ₦10bn Privacy Breach Suit Against INEC, Wike’s Aide

A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until July 22, 2026, further proceedings in the ₦10 billion privacy breach suit filed by Nollywood actor and politician Emeka Ike against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

Justice S.O. Ibrahim fixed the new date after INEC, the second respondent, failed to appear in court despite being served with hearing notices.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, centres on the alleged unlawful disclosure of Ike’s voter registration details, which were published on Olayinka’s verified X (formerly Twitter) account during a political exchange over the actor’s participation in the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency House of Representatives primary ahead of the 2027 general election.

At Thursday’s proceedings, counsel to the plaintiff, L.T. Adeh, informed the court that Olayinka had filed and served a counter-affidavit but noted that INEC was absent despite receiving hearing notices.

Adeh urged the court to grant a short adjournment to enable the electoral commission to appear and participate in the proceedings. He also disclosed that the plaintiff would file a reply to the first respondent’s counter-affidavit before the next hearing.

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Counsel for Olayinka, Akpama Ekwe, said he was ready to proceed with the case but did not oppose the request for an adjournment. He argued, however, that INEC could not be compelled to appear before the court.

Justice Ibrahim ruled that the interest of fair hearing required giving the electoral commission another opportunity to participate in the proceedings. He subsequently adjourned the matter until July 22 and directed that INEC be served afresh with hearing notices and all court processes filed in the suit.

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The legal action stems from screenshots showing the transfer of Emeka Ike’s voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory, which surfaced on social media in May.

According to the actor, the information was obtained from INEC’s restricted Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) administrative portal and published without his consent.

Ike contends that the disclosure violated his constitutional right to privacy under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and breached the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.

The actor is asking the court to declare the publication unlawful, order the removal of the social media post from all platforms, compel Olayinka to publish a public apology, and award him ₦10 billion in general, aggravated and exemplary damages.

Speaking with journalists after the hearing, Olayinka’s lawyer, Akpama Ekwe, argued that his client did not publish any sensitive personal information.

According to him, the documents only contained Ike’s name, passport photograph and voter transfer reference number.

“There is no case against my client. What he published was already in the public domain and did not contain any confidential personal information,” Ekwe maintained.

He also described the documents relied upon by the plaintiff as inadmissible and insisted that Olayinka committed no offence.

Reacting after the proceedings, Ike’s lawyer, L.T. Adeh, said the case extends beyond his client and could help strengthen the protection of Nigerians’ personal information.

He argued that if one person’s voter record could be accessed and published without authorisation, millions of other voter records could also be vulnerable.

Adeh expressed confidence that the court would establish an important legal precedent capable of improving compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act and safeguarding the personal data of registered voters.

Meanwhile, INEC has consistently maintained that its servers were not hacked.

The electoral commission said preliminary investigations showed that the documents were accessed through the alleged misuse of authorised internal credentials rather than any breach of its database.

INEC has reportedly suspended the electoral officer linked to the incident and said it is cooperating with relevant security agencies and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in ongoing investigations.

The case has attracted widespread public attention because it raises significant questions about data protection, cybersecurity, electoral integrity and the responsibility of public institutions to safeguard the personal information of more than 90 million registered Nigerian voters.

Legal observers believe the outcome of the suit could become one of Nigeria’s most significant judicial interpretations of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, particularly regarding the handling and disclosure of citizens’ personal data by government agencies and public officials.

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Court Adjourns Emeka Ike’s ₦10bn Privacy Breach Suit Against INEC, Wike’s Aide