The Nigeria Data Protection Commission has confirmed it is investigating the Independent National Electoral Commission over a data breach involving the personal information of Nollywood actor Emeka Ike, whose voter registration details were made public by Lere Olayinka, media aide to the FCT Minister, in circumstances the commission described as a matter of utmost urgency given its implications for the integrity of the voter database.
NDPC National Commissioner Dr. Vincent Olatunji, speaking at a media roundtable marking the commission’s third anniversary in Abuja, said both INEC and Olayinka were subjects of the investigation and that the matter had been escalated within the commission because it concerned sensitive electoral data at a time when the country was approaching major elections. He said INEC had appeared before the commission on two consecutive weeks and that Ike himself was at the NDPC office at the time of the briefing.
Olatunji said the commission maintained a rigorous standard of evidence before making public pronouncements on investigations, citing its handling of previous cases involving Meta, TikTok, Temu, Remita, and Sterling Bank as examples of its methodical approach. He said no entity was too large or prominent to be investigated and that the commission would take appropriate action once the investigation was concluded.
On the commission’s broader performance, Olatunji said it had generated over N8 billion for the federal government, created a data protection ecosystem valued at approximately $12 billion, and was working with the National Universities Commission to incorporate data protection into the national educational curriculum.
