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The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a N10 billion lawsuit instituted by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission over the circulation of his voter registration details on social media.

Ike had taken the matter to court, claiming that sharing his voter information on X infringed on his privacy and data protection rights.

He requested N10 billion in compensation, as well as an order directing the defendants to delete the information and tender an apology.

However, Justice Salim Ibrahim dismissed the case, holding that Ike had not presented adequate evidence to substantiate his allegations.

The court also rejected preliminary objections filed by the defendants, who had questioned the validity of the suit and argued that it was improperly constituted.

In his defence, Olayinka argued that the information posted online was limited to Ike’s name and passport photograph, which he described as details available to the public.

“I did not unlawfully access the actor’s personal information, and the publication did not breach any legal duty owed to him,” Olayinka said.

He further referred to Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, arguing that the legislation permits the publication of voter information ahead of general elections.

In its response, INEC stated that there was no evidence indicating that its Continuous Voter Registration database had been compromised or accessed by an unauthorised external party.

“The information was neither classified nor confidential and could be made public in accordance with the law,” INEC said.

To support his allegations, Ike cited Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, arguing that his right to privacy had been breached.

The actor also requested that the published details be taken down and formally retracted.

The lawsuit emerged against the backdrop of Ike’s political ambition to contest for a seat in the House of Representatives, representing the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, and Bwari Federal Constituency, in the 2027 general elections.

He had contested for the Nigeria Democratic Congress ticket but lost in the party’s primary election.

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