The Independent National Electoral Commission has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a N10 billion fundamental rights suit filed by Nollywood actor and House of Representatives aspirant Emeka Ike, arguing that voter registration information is public and not confidential under Nigerian law.
Ike had sued INEC and Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike, over the publication of his voter registration details on the social media platform X. The actor, who aspired to contest for the House of Representatives under the Nigeria Democratic Congress, alleged that the publication breached his constitutional right to privacy and violated protections relating to his personal data. Through his lawyer Leonard Adeh, Ike asked the court to declare that Olayinka’s publication of his details without consent amounted to an infringement of his rights. He is demanding N10 billion in damages.
In a counter-affidavit filed in opposition to the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, INEC denied complicity in the alleged unlawful leak and clarified that information supplied to it by voters is neither classified nor confidential. The commission told the court that the information Ike complained of was already published in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026. The affidavit, deposed to by Anthonia Makwe, an assistant director and data protection officer in INEC’s Legal Drafting and Clearance Department, insisted that the commission is constitutionally empowered to make voter information available to the public without first obtaining the consent of registered voters. INEC maintained that its statutory responsibilities include the compilation, maintenance, display, publication, certification and management of the register of voters in accordance with the Constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. The commission further argued that the information complained of was neither sensitive nor confidential and denied that the document allegedly published by Olayinka originated from INEC.
Olayinka, in his own counter-affidavit filed by counsel Akpama Ekwe, also urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of merit. He insisted that the information he shared was already in the public domain and was not obtained unlawfully. The FCT minister’s aide argued that the publication contained only Ike’s name and passport photograph and that he did not owe the plaintiff any duty of confidentiality. He contended that Ike, being a politician and public figure seeking elective office, could not claim to have been traumatised by the circulation of information he voluntarily submitted as part of the electoral process and had already made public through his political activities. Olayinka also relied on Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, which requires INEC to publish and display the register of voters before a general election to allow for public scrutiny.
After taking submissions from all parties, Justice Salim Ibrahim adjourned the matter until October 12, 2026, for further hearing.
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