The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has launched an investigation into the alleged leakage of actor Emeka Ike’s voter data and the suspected misuse of authorised access to its voter registration system.
In a statement on Tuesday, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Haruna, said the probe followed allegations of unauthorised access to the Commission’s Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database and the subsequent publication of information relating to a candidate in the recent primaries of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Federal Capital Territory.
“The Commission takes this allegation seriously and has immediately commenced a thorough investigation to establish the facts surrounding the incident,” the statement said.
INEC explained that during the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration exercise, authorised registration officers were granted controlled access to specific components of the CVR system to enable voter registration, transfers, and updates. It added that such access is strictly limited to official duties and is withdrawn at the end of the exercise.
According to the Commission, an audit trail from preliminary checks has helped identify the user account through which the data was accessed.
“Relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected with the incident are fully cooperating with the investigation,” INEC said, adding that it is reviewing technical, administrative, and operational procedures to determine whether any breach of internal access-control protocols occurred.
The Commission also disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS) has opened a parallel investigation into the matter and assured full cooperation with security agencies.
INEC, however, maintained that the retrieval of a single voter record does not amount to a compromise of its broader voter registration infrastructure or the personal data of more than 90 million registered voters.
Meanwhile, Ike has threatened legal action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged exposure of his personal data from the INEC portal.
The veteran actor recently contested the House of Representatives seat for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency under the NDC.
