Court Dismisses Emeka Ike’s N10bn Privacy Suit Against Wike’s Aide, INEC

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a N10 billion elementary rights lawsuit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike in opposition to Lere Olayinka, a Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Salim Ibrahim upheld the preliminary objections raised by the defendants, ruling that the case was improperly constituted and subsequently incompetent. The courtroom additionally dismissed the substantive swimsuit, citing an absence of ample proof to help Ike’s claims.

The dispute stemmed from a social media put up by Olayinka in May 2026, which allegedly revealed particulars of Ike’s voter registration switch from Imo State to Abuja. Ike, who had sought the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket to contest the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency House of Representatives seat forward of the 2027 elections, claimed the publication violated his constitutional proper to privateness and information safety.

Through his lawyer, L.T. Adeh, Ike argued that Olayinka’s publication of his voter registration info on X (previously Twitter) amounted to a breach of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. He additionally accused INEC of failing in its responsibility to safeguard voters’ private info.

The actor requested the courtroom to award N10 billion typically and aggravated damages in opposition to each defendants and sought orders compelling Olayinka to take away the put up and problem a written apology.

However, each INEC and Olayinka denied wrongdoing and urged the courtroom to dismiss the motion. INEC maintained that the knowledge referenced within the swimsuit was neither confidential nor delicate, arguing that voter registration particulars are topic to publication below the Electoral Act 2026. The fee additional acknowledged that there was no breach of its database and that the knowledge allegedly shared by Olayinka didn’t originate from INEC’s programs.

Olayinka additionally contended that the revealed materials contained solely Ike’s title and passport {photograph}, info he mentioned was already publicly out there. He maintained that no responsibility of confidentiality existed concerning the info and argued that people looking for public workplace couldn’t declare harm from the circulation of knowledge already within the public area.

According to Olayinka, the publication was supposed to focus on the current switch of Ike’s voter registration and draw consideration to related electoral provisions. After contemplating the arguments, the courtroom dominated in favour of the defendants, dismissing each the preliminary and substantive claims introduced by the actor.

The resolution brings an finish to the extremely publicised authorized battle over alleged privateness violations arising from the publication of voter registration info.

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