For anyone whose name and photo sit on Nigeria’s voters’ register, a ruling in Abuja on Wednesday offers a clear signal. The Federal High Court dismissed a N10bn fundamental rights suit brought by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike.
Justice Salim Ibrahim threw the case out after upholding the preliminary objections filed by the respondents, who questioned its competence and whether it was properly constituted. The judge also dismissed the main suit for lack of proof.
The respondents were Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC said the information at the centre of the case was neither classified, sensitive nor confidential. In a counter-affidavit deposed to by Anthonia Makwe, an assistant director and data protection officer in its Legal Drafting and Clearance Department, the commission said it had the ‘statutory and constitutional power to make available information of its voters to the general public without the consent of any registered voter.’
It listed its responsibilities as compiling, maintaining, displaying, publishing, certifying and managing the voters’ register in line with the Constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026, and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
INEC also denied that the information Olayinka published came from its database, and said it had not breached its duty to protect voters’ personal information held in its secured portal and restricted database.
Olayinka also denied wrongdoing. He said the document he published contained only Ike’s name and passport photograph, which he claimed were already in the public domain. He argued that he did not obtain the information unlawfully and that he owed the actor no duty of confidentiality requiring consent.
He added that Ike had presented himself as a public figure and said he intended to contest an election, so he could not claim trauma from the circulation of his name and photograph.
Olayinka said he published the material after Ike allegedly led a group of hoodlums to INEC’s office to disrupt its activities following his declaration of interest in the election.
According to him, the aim was to remind the actor that he had recently transferred his voter registration area and to draw public attention to the relevant electoral provisions. He cited Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which he said requires INEC to publish the voters’ register within the legally prescribed period ahead of a general election.
He also relied on INEC’s June 2 statement, quoted in his counter-affidavit, which said: “There was no external breach of its CVR database, no hacking incident and no unauthorised external access to the commission’s ICT infrastructure.”
Olayinka further argued that he was not a data controller under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, and therefore had no statutory obligation to safeguard the actor’s information as alleged.
He rejected the damages claim, calling the N10bn demand “an indication that the applicant is a gold digger who wants to reap where he did not sow”.
Ike had accused Olayinka of violating his right to privacy by publishing his voter registration details on his X handle in May. The actor said the post exposed personal information, including details of the transfer of his registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory.
He filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, through his lawyer, L.T. Adeh. He sought N10bn in aggravated and general damages and asked the court to declare that publishing his details without consent “amounts to gross breach and violation of the applicant’s fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data”.
He relied on Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Sections 24 and 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
Ike also asked the court to declare that INEC owed him and other registered voters a “statutory duty of care” to protect their personal information from unauthorised access. He further wanted the court to find that INEC’s June 2 press statement, issued after his voter information circulated on social media, was a “tacit admission of guilt and liability”.
In addition, he asked for an order directing Olayinka to remove the publication from his X account, #OlayinkaLere, and to issue a written apology.
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