Court Dismisses Emeka Ike’s N10bn Privacy Lawsuit

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a N10 billion suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over an alleged breach of his right to privacy.

Justice Salim Ibrahim, in his judgement on Wednesday, upheld the respondents’ preliminary objections, ruling that the suit was incompetent and improperly constituted. The court also dismissed the substantive case for lack of proof.

Ike had approached the court over the alleged publication of his voter registration details on social media by Olayinka, seeking N10 billion in damages for the alleged violation of his fundamental rights.

The actor had aspired to contest the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat in the 2027 general elections on the platform of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) but lost the party’s primary election.

In May, Olayinka allegedly published Ike’s voter registration details on X, formerly Twitter. The post reportedly contained information showing that the actor had transferred his voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory.

In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026 and filed through his counsel, L. T. Adeh, Ike named Olayinka and INEC as the first and second respondents, respectively.

He asked the court to declare that publishing his personal information on X without his consent violated his fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data.

Ike relied on 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, arguing that the provisions protected his privacy and personal information.

He also sought a declaration that INEC owed him and other registered voters a statutory duty of care to protect their personal data against unauthorised access.

In addition to the N10 billion claim for aggravated and general damages, Ike asked the court to declare that INEC’s statement of 2 June, issued in response to the circulation of his voter information on social media, amounted to an admission of liability.

He further sought an order directing Olayinka to remove the post from his X account, @OlayinkaLere, and issue a written apology for the alleged violation of his privacy.

INEC contests privacy claims

In its counter-affidavit, INEC urged the court to dismiss the suit, maintaining that the information in question was neither classified, sensitive nor confidential.

The commission, through Anthonia Makwe, an Assistant Director and Data Protection Officer in its Legal Drafting and Clearance Department, argued that the display and publication of such information were permitted under the Electoral Act, 2026.

INEC maintained that it had statutory and constitutional powers to make voters’ information available to the public without obtaining individual consent.

It said its responsibilities included compiling, maintaining, displaying, publishing, certifying and managing the register of voters in accordance with the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the Electoral Act, 2026, and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.

The commission also denied that the information allegedly published by Olayinka originated from its systems.

It insisted that it had not breached its duty to safeguard voters’ personal information held on its secured portal and restricted database.

Olayinka denies wrongdoing.

Olayinka, in his counter-affidavit, described the reliefs sought by Ike as being made in bad faith.

He maintained that the document he published contained only the actor’s name and passport photograph, which he said were already in the public domain and had not been obtained unlawfully.

The aide argued that he owed Ike no duty of care or confidentiality regarding the information and did not require the actor’s consent to publish details that were already publicly available.

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He further contended that Ike, having presented himself publicly as a prospective candidate and being a Nollywood actor, could not reasonably claim to have suffered trauma from the circulation of his name and passport photograph.

Olayinka also cited Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, arguing that the law required INEC to publish relevant voters’ information no later than 90 days before a general election.

He alleged that the publication followed an incident in which Ike led a group of people to INEC’s office to disrupt its activities shortly after declaring his intention to contest the election.

According to Olayinka, the post was intended to remind Ike that he had recently transferred his voter registration area and draw public attention to the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act.

He also cited INEC’s press release, arguing that the commission had stated that there was no external breach of its Continuous Voter Registration database, no hacking incident and no unauthorised external access to its information and communications technology infrastructure.

Olayinka maintained that he was not a data controller under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, and therefore had no legal obligation to safeguard the documents in question.

He described the N10 billion claim as an attempt to obtain compensation over information that was already publicly accessible and urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.