Popular Nollywood actor and politician, Emeka Ike, has threatened to take legal action against Lere Olayinka, the media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over the alleged unauthorised disclosure of his personal voter information from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) database.
Ike, who contested the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat in the FCT under the platform of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) during the recent elections, described Olayinka’s action as a dangerous abuse of power and a disturbing example of political impunity.
The controversy erupted after Olayinka shared screenshots on his X account purportedly showing details of Ike’s voter registration records, including information allegedly obtained from an INEC administrative portal.
In the post published on Saturday, Olayinka claimed that Ike was originally registered as a voter in Imo State before transferring his voter registration to the FCT on May 15, 2026.
“Emeka Ike was a registered voter in Imo State. He only transferred his INEC Registration to the FCT on May 15, 2026 (15 days ago),” Olayinka wrote.
“And he wants to contest for House of Reps in Abuja! Someone who has never voted in the FCT o. What happened to his Imo State? This Obidient people enh!!!”
Attached to the post were screenshots containing what appeared to be sensitive personal information, including Ike’s application number, voter identification number, registration centre details, photograph, and other registration records.
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The post triggered widespread criticism from social media users and political observers, many of whom questioned how the information was obtained and whether there had been a breach of voter privacy and data protection laws.
Reacting during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Ike condemned the disclosure, describing it as “the height of 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,” Ike said.
“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. That’s quite deplorable.”
According to the actor, the incident goes beyond a personal attack and raises broader concerns about the security of Nigerians’ personal information held by government institutions.
“I see that as a huge insult and slap on every political party and every Nigerian,” he added.
“He is telling every Nigerian that whoever you are, I can pull your information from anywhere and I can do what I want. That rascality needs to be stopped.”
Ike declared that he was prepared to confront Olayinka through appropriate legal channels, insisting that the disclosure amounted to a violation of his privacy rights.
“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,” Ike stated.
“If he has been doing it in the past, this should be the last time he does it.”
The actor also addressed questions surrounding his decision to contest for elective office in the FCT despite being an indigene of Imo State.
According to him, he initially planned to pursue political office in his home state but changed course after repeated appeals from supporters in Abuja.
“I actually wanted to run in my state, but a couple of people came to me. It was like a clarion call,” he said.
“They told me, sir, you need to do this now, we need you in Abuja.'”
Ike explained that he eventually accepted the calls after considering what he described as pressing governance and developmental concerns within the nation’s capital.
“I considered it, seeing the relevant issues they brought on board, and I said okay, fine, let’s see how we can build Abuja. A municipal area needs to be properly guarded and looked into, so I decided to shift to Abuja,” he added.
