Abati Calls on Wike’s Aide Lere Olayinka to Explain Alleged INEC Breach

Veteran journalist and former presidential aide Reuben Abati has urged an investigation into the release of voter registration details that were allegedly taken from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s restricted database.

Abati made the appeal during the “What’s Trending” segment of Arise Television’s Morning Show on Monday, reacting to the controversy surrounding Lere Olayinka, media aide to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike.

The dispute began after voter registration information for Nollywood actor Emeka Ike appeared online shortly after Ike announced his intention to run for a House of Representatives seat in the FCT.

Olayinka shared the records, which were said to have come from INEC’s restricted administrative portal.

Commenting on the matter, Abati said that the concerns raised by the public were justified, noting that the portal in question is reportedly not accessible to the general public.

He added that if the information was indeed obtained from a password‑protected backend system reserved for INEC officials, it would raise serious questions about the security of the electoral body’s database.

Abati stated that Olayinka, to the best of public knowledge, is not an INEC official and should explain how he gained access to the information.

He argued that if unauthorized persons could access INEC’s internal database, it would constitute a major breach of privacy and could potentially violate provisions of Nigeria’s Data Protection Act and Cybercrime Act.

Abati said:

“People have expressed concern. Their concerns are valid as expressed.”

“We’re told that it is a restricted portal open only to INEC officials, password‑protected; if you don’t have the password, you cannot get there.”

“In other words, it’s not a public website like the IReV portal, where you can go and check details about what’s included by INEC.”

“So, if this is a restricted confidential backend, then, of course, it means that the secret database of INEC is open to unauthorised persons.”

“Lere Olayinka, whatever, you know, is not an INEC official, to the best of our knowledge. We do not think that being a PA to the FCT minister, you know, gives him the authority to be able to egress in and out of INEC secret database.”

“So for that reason, I think those who are calling for an investigation, they are very right, and we ought to know the outcome of that investigation.”

“If that secret database of INEC is now open, it should be open to all of us, so that some people cannot have privilege. We should all rig elections if they want to make it public, otherwise it will be a breach of the privacy of the person involved.”

“It will even be an offence under the Cyber Crime Act. We have a law, the Nigeria Data Protection Law. We have the Cyber Crime Act. People cannot gain privileged access to what is supposed to be the backend of INEC. It means INEC’s backend is open to everybody, so we call for the investigation. We call for clarification.”

“Lere Olayinka himself should explain how he came about this, and you know, the earlier the better, so that the public doesn’t run away with a narrative that they can easily correct because it will then further raise questions about INEC.”

Daily Post reports that, as of the time of filing this report, neither Olayinka nor INEC had publicly responded to the calls for clarification and investigation.