ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until July 22 further proceedings in the N10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged unlawful publication of his personal voter information.
Justice Salim Ibrahim fixed the new date on Thursday after counsel to the actor, L.T. Adeh, sought a short adjournment to enable the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the second respondent in the matter, to appear before the court.
When the case was called, Adeh informed the court that the first respondent, Olayinka, had served his defence processes in response to the suit.
He added that he would file the plaintiff’s response to Olayinka’s counter-affidavit between Thursday and Friday.
The lawyer also told the court that although hearing notices had been properly served on both respondents, INEC was absent from the proceedings.
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He consequently urged the court to adjourn the matter to allow the electoral commission participate in the case.
Counsel to Olayinka, Akpama Ekwe, did not oppose the request for adjournment but informed the court that he was ready to proceed with the hearing.
Justice Ibrahim, however, held that a short adjournment was necessary in the interest of fair hearing and to give INEC an opportunity to appear before the court.
Ekwe urged the court to proceed with the matter, arguing that INEC could not be compelled to attend the proceedings.
The judge maintained that the brief adjournment was intended to ensure the commission had the opportunity to participate in the case before adjourning the matter until July 22 for further mention.
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The court also directed that INEC be issued and served with a fresh hearing notice together with all processes filed in the suit before the next adjourned date.
The suit stems from the actor’s unsuccessful bid to secure the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat in the 2027 general election.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Olayinka, through a post on his X handle in May, allegedly mocked Ike by publishing the actor’s confidential voter registration details on social media.
The post reportedly contained information showing Ike’s transfer of voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory.
Olayinka allegedly used screenshots believed to have been obtained from INEC’s restricted backend portal to question the actor’s eligibility to contest the House of Representatives seat under the platform of the NDC.
The publication sparked widespread criticism, with many Nigerians accusing Olayinka of gaining unauthorised access to a password-protected portal reserved exclusively for INEC officials.
Reacting to the controversy, INEC denied reports that its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database had been hacked or suffered a major security breach.
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Instead, the commission attributed the unauthorised disclosure of Ike’s voter information to the misuse of valid internal access credentials by authorised personnel.
Investigators attached to the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) also questioned Olayinka and an electoral officer over the alleged leak of voter information from the INEC database.
In the suit filed through his lawyer, Adeh, Ike asked the court to declare that Olayinka’s publication of his voter registration details on X without his consent amounted to a gross violation of his constitutional right to privacy and protection of personal data.
He argued that 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, guarantee his right to privacy and the protection of personal information.
The actor also asked the court to declare that INEC owes him, and all registered voters, a statutory duty of care to safeguard their personal data against unauthorised access and disclosure.
Ike is seeking N10 billion in aggravated and general damages against Olayinka and INEC, to be paid jointly and severally for the alleged violation of his fundamental right to privacy.
He is also asking the court to declare that INEC’s press statement issued on June 2 in response to the viral circulation of his voter information amounted to a tacit admission of liability.
In addition, he wants the court to declare both Olayinka and INEC jointly liable for the alleged breach of his constitutional right to privacy and the protection of personal data as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Sections 24 and 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
The applicant further urged the court to order Olayinka to immediately delete the post containing screenshots of his voter information from his X handle, @OlayinkaLere.
He is equally seeking an order compelling Olayinka to issue an unreserved written apology for the alleged violation and publish it on his X handle as well as in three national newspapers; The Punch, The Nation and ThisDay.
According to Ike, the apology should run for two weeks in the newspapers to ensure it receives publicity comparable to the attention generated by the original social media publication.