A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has postponed proceedings in the N10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit instituted by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against the Independent National Electoral Commission and Lere Olayinka, fixing July 22 for further mention.
The matter, filed as FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, came before Justice S.O. Ibrahim on Thursday.
During the proceedings, counsel to the plaintiff, L.T. Adeh, informed the court that the first respondent had already filed and served its response to the suit.
He added that hearing notices had been served on both respondents but pointed out that the second respondent, INEC, was not represented in court. He therefore requested an adjournment to allow the electoral commission to appear.
Counsel for the first respondent, Akpama Ekwe, did not object to the request, although he informed the court that he was ready to proceed with the hearing.
Adeh also notified the court that he intended to file a reply to the first respondent’s counter-affidavit between Thursday and Friday.
In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim granted a brief adjournment, explaining that it was necessary to ensure fair hearing and provide INEC with an opportunity to participate in the proceedings.
Although Ekwe urged the court to proceed with hearing the matter, arguing that INEC could not be compelled to attend, the judge maintained that the adjournment was intended to give the electoral body another opportunity to appear before the court.
The case was subsequently adjourned until July 22 for further mention, with the court directing that INEC be served with the hearing notice alongside every process already filed before the next sitting.
The suit arose from allegations that Ike’s voter registration details were unlawfully published on Olayinka’s official X account after screenshots showing the transfer of the actor’s voter registration from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory appeared on social media.
According to Ike, the information was posted by Olayinka without his permission after it was allegedly obtained through a restricted INEC administrative portal.
The actor is asking the court to award him N10 billion in damages for the alleged violation of his right to privacy.
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He is also seeking orders compelling the removal of the social media post and demanding a public apology.
INEC has maintained that the incident was not caused by a cyberattack on its database, insisting instead that it resulted from the misuse of authorised internal access credentials.
Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, Ekwe described the documents relied upon by the plaintiff as “inadmissible,” insisting that his client had neither violated any law nor committed any offence. He added that INEC had already stated publicly that its servers were not compromised.
“There is no case against my client. What my client published, apart from being in the public domain, does not contain any (personal) information.
The only thing that document contained is the name of Emeka Ike and the transfer number. The second document contained his passport photograph and his name.
“So you will agree with me that there was no personal data that was published as is alleged. So there is actually no case against my client,” he said.
Responding after the hearing, Adeh said he believed that INEC “has no defense in the matter,” which he said explained the commission’s repeated absence from court.
He expressed confidence in his client’s case, saying it could establish an important legal precedent against future breaches of voters’ data. He also remarked that Ike had been restrained in seeking only N10 billion in damages.
“It is very possible that whoever accessed this thing must have also been able to access other records. So it is not just Emeka Ike.
But we want to use Emeka Ike’s issue and also ensure that this kind of thing is put in check. I think this is going to be a very interesting case, and we hope that the court will do justice,” he stated.