REPORT: Police question Wike’s aide, detain INEC official over voter data leak
Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has reportedly been questioned by the police over the unauthorised disclosure of voter information from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) database.
According to a report by TheCable newspaper, Olayinka was interrogated on Tuesday by operatives of the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged cyber-related offenses and the leak of sensitive electoral documents.
The report stated that an INEC official, whose identity has not been disclosed, is also being detained in connection with the incident.
Citing sources familiar with the investigation, the newspaper said the probe followed a formal complaint filed on behalf of INEC, alleging criminal conspiracy, cyber intimidation, unauthorized database access, and the release of classified documents.
The controversy erupted after Olayinka shared screenshots on X showing details of Nollywood actor Emeka Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory. He used the information to question Ike’s qualification to contest for a House of Representatives seat in the FCT after the actor criticized the conduct of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries.
The post triggered widespread reactions, with many Nigerians raising concerns about how the voter information was obtained and whether there had been unauthorized access to INEC’s internal systems.
However, INEC, in a statement issued on Tuesday, dismissed claims that its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database had been hacked. The commission maintained that the disclosure resulted from the misuse of valid internal credentials by an authorised official.
It further reported that the detained electoral officer allegedly contacted Olayinka through Facebook Messenger and later shared the voter registration document via WhatsApp. The official reportedly intended to provide evidence that Ike’s voter transfer request had only recently been initiated and had not yet been approved.
