Court dismisses Emeka Ike’s N10bn suit against Wike’s aide over voter data publication

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed a N10bn fundamental rights suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against Lere Olayinka, an aide to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Punch reported.

Justice Salim Ibrahim upheld preliminary objections from the respondents challenging the suit’s competence and proper constitution. He also dismissed the substantive suit for lack of proof.
Ike accused Olayinka of violating his right to privacy by publishing his voter registration details on X in May, including details of his transfer from Imo State to the FCT. He sought N10bn in damages, removal of the post and a written apology, relying on Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.

The actor, who lost the Nigerian Democratic Congress primary for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat, also asked the court to declare that INEC owed voters a duty of care over their personal data.

INEC argued the information was neither classified nor confidential, and that it had “statutory and constitutional power to make available information of its voters to the general public without the consent of any registered voter.”

Olayinka said the post contained only Ike’s name and passport photograph, which he claimed were already public. He argued that Ike, as a public figure and aspiring candidate, could not claim trauma, and called the N10bn claim “an indication that the applicant is a gold digger who wants to reap where he did not sow.”
He also said he was not a data controller under the data protection law.