ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed July 2 for further proceedings in the N10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nollywood actor and politician, Emeka Ike, against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged unlawful disclosure of his personal voter information.
Justice Salim Ibrahim adjourned the matter on Thursday after counsel to the applicant, Leonard Adeh, requested more time to allow the respondents to file their defence.
Emeka Ike, in the suit, is challenging what he described as a violation of his constitutional right to privacy following the publication of his personal voter registration details on social media.
The actor joined Olayinka and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the first and second respondents respectively in the fundamental rights enforcement action.
When the matter came up for mention, only Adeh appeared before the court.
The lawyer informed the judge that although the case had been scheduled for mention, he had been informed by the court bailiff that both respondents were only served with the court processes a day earlier.
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“However, I want to bring to the notice of the court that the bailiff told me that parties (respondents) were only served yesterday.
“My lord, I want to know the nature of service effected, particularly on the 1st defendant (Olayinka),” he said.
When Justice Ibrahim asked why the clarification was necessary, Adeh replied:
“We don’t want to have a jurisdictional issue, my lord.”
The judge subsequently directed a court official to provide the applicant’s lawyer with a copy of the proof of service contained in the court’s records.
After examining the document, Adeh informed the court:
“My lord, I am satisfied, sir.”
He thereafter acknowledged that both respondents were still within the legally prescribed period to file their responses and requested an adjournment.
Justice Ibrahim granted the application and fixed July 2 for further mention of the suit.
The court also ordered that hearing notices be issued and served on both respondents before the next sitting.
The dispute stems from events following the party primaries for the 2027 House of Representatives election, where Ike sought the ticket of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in Abuja but was unsuccessful.
According to court documents, Olayinka allegedly published screenshots of Ike’s confidential voter registration details on his X account in May while questioning the actor’s eligibility to contest the election.
The screenshots reportedly showed that Ike had transferred his voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory.
The publication triggered widespread criticism, with many Nigerians alleging that Olayinka had gained unauthorised access to INEC’s password-protected backend system, which is reserved exclusively for electoral officials.
INEC, however, denied that its Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, database had been hacked or compromised.
Instead, the electoral commission explained that the disclosure resulted from the misuse of valid internal login credentials by authorised personnel.
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The controversy also attracted the attention of investigators from the Force Intelligence Department Intelligence Response Team, FID-IRT, who invited both Olayinka and an INEC official for questioning over the alleged voter data leak.
In the suit filed through his lawyer, Adeh, Ike is asking the court to declare that Olayinka’s publication of his voter registration records on X without his consent amounted to a gross violation of his constitutional right to privacy and personal data protection.
He argued that his rights are guaranteed under 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.
The applicant also contended that INEC owes every registered voter a statutory duty of care to safeguard personal information from unauthorised access or disclosure.
Consequently, Ike urged the court to award N10 billion against Olayinka and INEC jointly and severally as aggravated and general damages for the alleged breach of his fundamental rights.
He further asked the court to declare that INEC’s June 2 press statement responding to the controversy amounted to a tacit admission of liability over the unlawful disclosure of his personal information.
According to him, both respondents should be held jointly responsible for violating his constitutional right to privacy and protection of personal data as guaranteed under the Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
Among the reliefs sought, Ike is asking the court to order Olayinka to immediately delete the social media post containing screenshots of his voter information from his X account, @OlayinkaLere.
He is also seeking an order compelling Olayinka to issue an unreserved written apology for the alleged violation of his privacy rights and publish the apology on the same X platform.