Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Actor-turned-politician Emeka Ike has threatened to take legal action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over allegations that he unlawfully disclosed his personal information obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal.
Ike accused Olayinka of breaching his privacy by exposing sensitive data retrieved from the electoral body’s database, a move he described as unlawful and unacceptable.
He said he is considering instituting legal proceedings to seek redress over the alleged data breach.
Truth Live News Media reports that Olayinka had taken to X to publish what appeared to be Ike’s voter information obtained via an INEC administrative webpage.
He noted that the Imo State-born politician had only transferred his INEC voter registration from Imo to the FCT days before he unsuccessfully vied for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket for AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in FCT.
He attached two images to the post, which some analysts said contained details obtained from INEC’s administrative login portal.
Personal information in the screenshots included Ike’s application number, registration centre, Voter Identification Number, profile picture, name, and date of application.
Truth Live News Media reports that Ike made the threat while reacting during a Tuesday appearance on Channels TV.
Ike said Olayinka should be blamed for the action, which he described as the height of political rascality.
His words, “It’s quite shocking, extreme, and it is the height of political rascality for a government officer to access a citizen’s information from the INEC cyber.
“It tells you a lot; it shows how much impunity we have flying around, and people have access to things they shouldn’t be having access to, and that’s quite deplorable. I see that as a huge insult and slap on every political party and every Nigerian.
“He is telling every Nigerian that whoever you are, I can pull your information from anywhere and I can do what I want, and that rascality needs to be stopped.”
Ike said he would consider suing Olayinka for violating his right to privacy.
“Actions are ready, I’m ready to take him on. He has no right to exploit my privacy and insult Nigerians the way he did. If he has been doing it in the past, this should be the last time he does it,” Ike warned.
