INEC Confirms Staff Leaked Confidential Electoral Data of NDC Parliamentary Candidate

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed that confidential voter data belonging to Nollywood actor Emeka Ike, who is running for a seat in the House of Representatives under the National Democratic Coalition (NDC), was accessed with valid staff credentials and then released without permission.

INEC made the announcement in a statement issued on Tuesday by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee.

The issue arose after allegations surfaced that Lere Olayinka, a media aide to Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, had accessed the Commission’s Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database without authorization.

Olayinka reportedly shared voter registration details of Emeka Ike online shortly after the actor announced his intention to contest a House seat in the FCT. The records were said to have come from INEC’s restricted administrative portal.

INEC said it launched an investigation immediately after social‑media posts and media reports claimed that candidate information had been taken from its database and made public.

Preliminary findings indicated that there was no external breach of the CVR database, no hacking incident, and no unauthorized access to INEC’s ICT infrastructure. Instead, the data were accessed using legitimate user credentials assigned to staff involved in the nationwide CVR exercise.

“The information in question was accessed through valid user credentials assigned to personnel participating in the ongoing CVR exercise but released without authority,” the statement read.

INEC explained that registration officers working on the CVR exercise were given controlled access to specific parts of the system so they could register new voters, process transfer requests and update records as needed.

An audit trail from the preliminary investigation allowed the Commission to identify the user account that was used to access the information. Relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected to the incident are cooperating with the investigation.

INEC is reviewing the technical, administrative and operational aspects of the incident to determine responsibility and to assess whether any internal access‑control protocols were breached.

In addition, INEC reported that the Department of State Services (DSS) has begun its own independent investigation into the matter.