Actor and politician Emeka Ike has threatened to take legal action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged exposure of his personal information from the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Olayinka had posted on X what appeared to be Ike’s voter information obtained through an INEC administrative webpage.
He claimed that the Imo State-born actor had transferred his voter registration from Imo State to the FCT shortly before contesting for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency.
The post included two screenshots that some observers said appeared to have been taken from an INEC administrative portal.
The images reportedly contained Ike’s application number, registration centre, Voter Identification Number, profile photograph, name and date of application.
Reacting during an appearance on Channels Television on Tuesday, Ike condemned the action, describing it as political rascality.
“It’s quite shocking, extreme, and it is the height of political rascality for a government officer to access a citizen’s information from the INEC cyber.
“It tells you a lot; it shows how much impunity we have flying around, and people have access to things they shouldn’t be having access to, and that’s quite deplorable. I see that as a huge insult and slap on every political party and every Nigerian.
“He is telling every Nigerian that whoever you are, I can pull your information from anywhere and I can do what I want, and that rascality needs to be stopped.”
Ike also said he was prepared to challenge Olayinka in court over what he described as a violation of his privacy.
“Actions are ready, I’m ready to take him on. He has no right to exploit my privacy and insult Nigerians the way he did. If he has been doing it in the past, this should be the last time he does it,” Ike said.
The controversy comes weeks after Ike joined the race for the House of Representatives seat representing AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general election.
In May, he obtained the NDC nomination form and formally declared his intention to contest the seat. He had earlier sought elective office in Imo State under the Young Progressives Party (YPP) before returning to active politics in the Federal Capital Territory.
