By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed a ₦10 billion fundamental rights suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the publication of his voter registration details on social media.
Justice Salim Ibrahim upheld the respondents’ preliminary objections, holding that the suit was incompetent and improperly constituted. The court also dismissed the substantive suit for lack of proof.
Ike had sued Olayinka and INEC in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, alleging that the publication of details of his voter registration transfer from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory on Olayinka’s X handle in May violated his fundamental right to privacy.
The actor, who sought to contest the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives in 2027 on the platform of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), lost the party’s primary election.
In his suit, Ike sought ₦10 billion in damages, an order compelling Olayinka to remove the post and issue a written apology. He also asked the court to hold INEC liable for failing to protect voters’ personal information.
Ike relied on Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, to support his claim.
However, INEC argued that the information in question was neither classified nor confidential and maintained that the publication of voter information was permitted under the Electoral Act, 2026. The commission also denied that the information posted by Olayinka originated from its database.
Olayinka, in his counter-affidavit, said the publication contained only Ike’s name and passport photograph, which he claimed were already in the public domain. He denied obtaining the information unlawfully or owing the actor a duty of confidentiality.
He further alleged that the publication followed an incident in which Ike led a group of hoodlums to disrupt activities at an INEC office. According to him, the post was intended to draw attention to Ike’s voter registration transfer and the relevant electoral provisions.
Olayinka also cited INEC’s June 2 statement, which denied any external breach of its Continuous Voter Registration database, hacking incident, or unauthorized external access to its information technology infrastructure.
He urged the court to dismiss the suit, describing the ₦10 billion damages claim as being made in bad faith.
The court dismissed the action after upholding the respondents’ preliminary objections and finding that the substantive claims had not been proved.
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