A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until July 22 for further mention in the N10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nollywood actor Emeka Ike against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Justice S.O. Ibrahim fixed the new date on Thursday after the plaintiff’s counsel, L.T. Adeh, informed the court that while the first respondent had filed its response, the second respondent, INEC, was absent despite being served with hearing notices.
Adeh requested a short adjournment to enable the electoral commission to appear before the court. Counsel to the first respondent, Akpama Ekwe, did not oppose the request but said he was ready to proceed with the matter.
The plaintiff’s lawyer also told the court that he would file a response to the first respondent’s counter-affidavit between Thursday and Friday.
In granting the application, Justice Ibrahim said the adjournment was necessary in the interest of fair hearing and to provide INEC with an opportunity to participate in the proceedings.
Although Ekwe urged the court to fix the matter for hearing, arguing that INEC could not be compelled to appear, the judge maintained that the brief adjournment would ensure all parties had the opportunity to be heard.
The court also ordered that INEC be served with the hearing notice alongside all processes filed in the suit before the next adjourned date.
The case arose from allegations that Ike’s voter registration details were unlawfully disclosed 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 surfaced online.
The actor alleges that the information was published without his consent after it was accessed through a restricted INEC administrative portal.
In the suit, Ike is seeking N10 billion in damages for the alleged violation of his constitutional right to privacy. He is also asking the court to order the deletion of the social media post and compel the defendants to issue a public apology.
INEC has maintained that the incident was not the result of a cyberattack on its database, insisting that the information was accessed through the misuse of authorised internal credentials.
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Speaking after the court session, Ekwe argued that the documents relied upon by the plaintiff were inadmissible and insisted that his client committed no wrongdoing.
He maintained that the information published did not contain sensitive personal data, noting that it only included Ike’s name, transfer number and passport photograph.
“There is no case against my client,” Ekwe said, adding that INEC had already clarified that its servers were not breached.
However, Adeh expressed confidence in his client’s case, claiming that INEC had repeatedly failed to defend the matter in court.
He said the suit could establish an important legal precedent for protecting the personal data of Nigerian voters and preventing future breaches.
According to him, the case extends beyond Ike, warning that if one person’s voter records could be accessed, the data of other Nigerians might also have been compromised.