A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday adjourned until July 22 for further mention in a ₦10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
When the matter, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, came up before Justice S.O. Ibrahim, counsel for the plaintiff, L.T. Adeh, informed the court that the first respondent had already filed its response to the suit.
Adeh also told the court that hearing notices had been served on both respondents but noted that INEC was absent in court. He therefore urged the court for an adjournment to enable the electoral body to be properly represented.
Counsel for the first respondent, Akpama Ekwe, did not oppose the application but indicated readiness to proceed with the matter.
The plaintiff’s counsel further informed the court that he would file a reply to the first respondent’s counter-affidavit between Thursday and Friday.
Justice Ibrahim said he would grant a short adjournment in the interest of fair hearing and to allow INEC an opportunity to appear before the court.
Ekwe, however, urged the court to proceed with hearing, arguing that INEC could not be compelled to appear.
The judge maintained that the adjournment was necessary to ensure the second respondent’s participation in the proceedings.
He subsequently adjourned the case until July 22 for further mention and ordered that INEC be served with hearing notices and all filed processes before the next date.
The suit stems from allegations that Ike’s personal voter registration details were unlawfully disclosed on Olayinka’s verified X (formerly Twitter) account after screenshots showing the transfer of his voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory surfaced online.
Ike contends that the information was published without his consent, allegedly obtained from a restricted INEC administrative portal.
In the suit, the actor is seeking ₦10 billion in damages for alleged breach of his right to privacy, alongside orders directing the removal of the social media post and a public apology.
INEC has, however, maintained that the incident did not result from a cyberattack on its database but from the misuse of authorised internal access credentials.
Speaking with journalists after the hearing, Ekwe described the plaintiff’s evidence as “inadmissible,” insisting that his client had not breached any law.
He argued that the information published was already in the public domain, adding that it contained only Ike’s name, transfer number, and passport photograph.
“There is no case against my client. What my client published, apart from being in the public domain, does not contain any personal information,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adeh maintained that INEC “has no defence” in the matter and had been avoiding active participation in the case.
He expressed confidence in the suit, saying it could set a legal precedent to prevent future breaches of voters’ data. He added that Ike’s demand for ₦10 billion in damages was modest given the circumstances.
“It is very possible that whoever accessed this could also have accessed other records. So it is not just Emeka Ike. We want to use his case to ensure this is put in check. I think this will be a very interesting case, and we hope the court will do justice,” he said.
