The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the Department of State Services (DSS) has commenced an investigation into the unauthorised access to its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database and the subsequent publication of the data of actor and politician, Emeka Ike, by Lere Olayinka, media aide to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
On Saturday, May 30, Olayinka shared a post stating that Ike was formerly a registered voter in Imo State before transferring his registration to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He also attached screenshots containing personal details of the actor obtained from INEC’s administrative login portal.
The data reportedly included Ike’s application number, registration centre, voter identification number, profile picture, name and date of application.
Following public reactions and concerns over how the information was accessed, INEC said it takes the allegation seriously and has launched a thorough investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Commission explained that, as part of the ongoing CVR exercise nationwide, authorised registration officers were granted controlled access to specific components of the system strictly for official duties such as new registrations, transfers and updates of voter records.
INEC added that such access is restricted and withdrawn at the end of the exercise.
According to the Commission, an audit trail from preliminary investigations has identified the user account through which the information was accessed.
It further denied claims that an external source had access to its database and confirmed that the Department of State Services (DSS) has also commenced an investigation into the matter.
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