The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a full-scale investigation into the alleged leak of actor Emeka Ike’s voter information and the suspected misuse of authorised access to its voter registration database.
The development follows public allegations that sensitive information belonging to the veteran Nollywood actor was accessed and subsequently published after his participation in the recent Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In a statement issued on Tuesday, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, confirmed that the commission had begun a comprehensive probe into the incident.
According to Haruna, the investigation was triggered by claims of unauthorised access to the Commission’s Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database and the publication of information relating to Emeka Ike, who recently contested for the House of Representatives seat representing the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency under the NDC platform.
The Commission takes this allegation seriously and has immediately commenced a thorough investigation to establish the facts surrounding the incident,” the statement said.
INEC explained that authorised registration officers were granted limited access to specific sections of the CVR system during the ongoing nationwide voter registration exercise. The access, it noted, was strictly for official duties such as registering new voters, processing transfer requests, and updating voter records.
The commission stressed that such access is controlled and automatically withdrawn once the registration exercise concludes.
Preliminary findings from the investigation have reportedly enabled INEC to identify the specific user account through which the voter information was accessed.
According to the electoral body, officials linked to the account have already been questioned, while all relevant departments are cooperating with investigators to determine whether internal access-control procedures were breached.
The Commission is examining all technical, administrative and operational factors associated with the matter to establish responsibility and determine the circumstances surrounding the use of those credentials before taking appropriate action against anyone found culpable,” Haruna stated.
INEC further disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS) has launched a separate investigation into the matter. The commission pledged full cooperation with security agencies and vowed to ensure that anyone found responsible faces the appropriate legal consequences.
Despite the controversy, INEC reassured Nigerians that there is no evidence suggesting that the country’s broader voter registration infrastructure has been compromised.
The commission emphasized that the retrieval of a single voter record does not indicate a breach of the personal information of more than 90 million registered voters currently in its database.
The controversy emerged after Emeka Ike threatened legal action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged exposure of his personal information obtained from the INEC portal.
The actor argued that his privacy rights had been violated and vowed to pursue legal remedies against those responsible.
The case has since sparked fresh concerns about data protection, privacy rights, and the security of sensitive voter information in Nigeria ahead of future electoral activities.
As investigations continue, both INEC and security agencies have assured the public that every effort will be made to uncover the circumstances surrounding the incident and hold any guilty parties accountable.
