by Mohammed Bello Doka
3 June, 2026.
What would the Department of State Services be doing right now if the person who shared that restricted voter data was not Lere Olayinka, special assistant on media to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, but rather the special assistant on media to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar? What if it was an aide to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who had posted Emeka Ike's voter identification number, registration centre, application details, profile picture, and registration history for the world to see? What if a spokesperson for former Senate President David Mark had done exactly what Olayinka did—accessed restricted INEC data and broadcast it on social media?
We do not need to guess. We have seen the script too many times. Within hours, the DSS would have traced the suspect to his home. A midnight arrest would have been staged for the cameras. The suspect would have been paraded before journalists while a stern-faced official read a statement about Nigeria's cybercrime laws and the agency's unwavering commitment to protecting citizens' data. Handcuffs would have clicked. A cell door would have slammed. And the nation would have been treated to the familiar spectacle of an opposition figure being taught a lesson.
But Lere Olayinka is not an opposition figure. He is the media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a man at the heart of the APC administration. And so instead of handcuffs, there is silence. Instead of a midnight raid, there is a statement about an ongoing investigation that somehow never reaches the man who actually pressed the share button.
The evidence was not hidden. It was posted openly, shared widely, and displayed for all of Nigeria to see. Olayinka took restricted voter data originating from INEC's protected server and broadcast it to the public. The screenshots contained Emeka Ike's voter identification number, registration centre, application details, profile picture, and registration history—sensitive personal data no citizen should be able to access at will. The victim, an actor who had announced plans to contest a House of Representatives seat in the FCT, described the act as the height of political rascality. He was right.
The law is clear. Nigeria's Cybercrimes Act makes it an offense to intentionally disclose non-public transmissions from a computer system. The Data Protection Act classifies voter records as sensitive personal data and prohibits unauthorized disclosure. These laws do not distinguish between the leaker and the publisher. Receiving stolen data and republishing it is itself a crime.
INEC has confirmed that the information was accessed through valid user credentials assigned to personnel but released without authority. The Commission has identified the specific user account. The DSS has launched an investigation. But here is the question neither has answered: How did Olayinka come to possess that information? Who gave it to him? And why has he not been summoned for questioning even once?
Veteran journalist Reuben Abati has said Olayinka is not an INEC official, and being a PA to the FCT minister does not give him authority to egress into INEC's secret database. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that this breach places the credibility of the 2027 election under threat, noting that only days earlier, Minister Wike had declared with remarkable certainty that Atiku would not secure ten percent of Rivers State votes. Was that confidence born of political insight or of access?
So why the hesitation? The answer is uncomfortable but undeniable. In Nigeria today, the law bends to political convenience. When an APC operative commits a digital crime, it becomes an unauthorised release instead of a breach. The suspect goes home. He posts on social media. He continues his day while his victim fights alone for justice.
This double standard is not an accident. It is the system functioning exactly as designed. The same DSS that terrorises opposition figures over tweets cannot question a man who published restricted voter data. The same INEC that threatens to prosecute data thieves goes quiet when the thief works for a powerful minister.
The data was stolen. The evidence is public. The suspect is known and employed by the FCT Minister. Every day without an arrest is a declaration—that the APC plays by different rules, that your privacy depends on your politics, and that security agencies find courage only when the accused is not one of their own.
Arrest him. Investigate him. Charge him if the evidence warrants. Or stop pretending Nigeria has laws at all. The nation is watching, and the silence is deafening.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
Abuja Network News
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Opinion