Data privacy dispute: Court to hear Emeka Ike’s N10bn suit against Wike’s aide

Source Domain: businessday.ng

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed July 2, for further proceedings in a N10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Emeka Ike, Nollywood actor and politician against Lere Olayinka, senior special assistant on public communications to Nyesom Wike,Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Justice Salim Ibrahim adjourned the matter on Thursday after Leonard Adeh, counsel to Ike, informed the court that the respondents had only recently been served and were still within the statutory period to file their responses.

Ike is seeking damages over the alleged unauthorised disclosure of his voter registration information on social media, an incident that has raised concerns about data protection and access controls within Nigeria’s electoral system.

The suit names Olayinka and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as respondents.

According to court filings, Olayinka allegedly published screenshots containing details of Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory on his X account in May.

The actor contends that the publication breached his constitutional right to privacy and violated provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.

The controversy emerged after Olayinka questioned Ike’s eligibility to contest for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), citing information reportedly obtained from INEC’s voter registration database.

INEC subsequently denied reports of an external breach of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database, attributing the disclosure to the misuse of valid internal credentials by authorised personnel rather than a cyberattack.

The incident also drew the attention of law enforcement authorities, with investigators reportedly inviting Olayinka and an electoral officer for…

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