Actor Emeka Ike says he is prepared to take legal action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, over the alleged exposure of his personal data from the Independent National Electoral Commission portal.
Ike, who is from Imo State, recently contested the House of Representatives seat for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in the FCT under the Nigerian Democratic Congress and lost.
The controversy began after Olayinka posted what appeared to be Ike’s voter information on X, saying the actor had transferred his voter registration from Imo State to the FCT on May 15, 2026.
In the post, Olayinka questioned Ike’s eligibility to contest in Abuja, writing: “Emeka Ike was a registered voter in Imo State. He only transferred his INEC registration to the FCT on May 15, 2026… And he wants to contest for House of Reps in Abuja!”
The post included screenshots that social media users alleged were obtained from an INEC administrative portal and contained personal details such as Ike’s application number, registration centre, voter identification number, profile photo and date of application.
Reacting on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Ike described the publication of his details as a breach of privacy and an abuse of power.
“It’s quite shocking… the height of political rascality for a government officer to access a citizen’s information from the INEC cyber,” he said. “It shows how much impunity we have… and it’s quite deplorable.”
He added that the act sent a dangerous message about access to citizens’ personal data.
“The rascality needs to be stopped,” he said.
Ike said he was prepared to take action over the incident.
“Actions are ready, I’m ready to take him on. He has no right to exploit my privacy,” he said.
Explaining his decision to contest in the FCT rather than his home state, Ike said supporters encouraged him to run in Abuja to address local governance issues.
“I actually wanted to run in my state… but people came to me and insisted I should run in Abuja,” he said. “I considered the issues they brought forward and decided to shift to Abuja.”
