ABUJA — The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed a N10 billion fundamental rights suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Salim Ibrahim, in a judgment delivered on October 28, 2026, upheld the preliminary objections raised by the respondents. He ruled that the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, was incompetent and improperly constituted. The judge also dismissed the substantive suit for lack of proof.
Ike, who aspired to contest the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 general elections, had lost in the party’s primary. He approached the court after Olayinka allegedly published details of his voter registration on the social media platform X in May 2026.
The post reportedly showed information about Ike’s transfer of his voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory. Ike claimed the publication violated his fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data.
Through his counsel, L.T. Adeh (also referred to as Leonard Adeh), Ike asked the court to declare that Olayinka’s publication of his personal voter information without consent amounted to a gross breach of his rights under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Sections 24 and 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
He further sought a declaration that INEC had a statutory duty to protect the personal data of registered voters from unauthorised access and disclosure. Ike also prayed for an order compelling Olayinka to remove the post and issue a written apology, as well as N10 billion in aggravated and general damages against both respondents jointly and severally.
In their responses, the respondents urged the court to dismiss the suit. Olayinka maintained that the information he shared—primarily Ike’s name and passport photograph—was already publicly available and that he did not unlawfully access any private database. He argued that the publication did not breach any legal duty owed to the actor.
INEC, for its part, stated that there was no external breach of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database, no hacking incident, and no unauthorised external access to its ICT infrastructure. The commission maintained that certain voter information forms part of the public register of voters that it is empowered by law to compile, maintain, and publish.
After considering the arguments, Justice Ibrahim upheld the objections and dismissed the case.
Reacting to the judgment, Ike expressed disappointment. He questioned the meaning of fundamental human rights, stating: “It’s even crazy that your right will be violated and the judge will tell you it’s not a fundamental human right. Then what is a fundamental human right? The embarrassment, the bullying online.”
The ruling brings an end to the high-profile privacy case that had drawn public attention following the social media controversy earlier in the year.
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