Court advises Nollywood actor Emeka Ike, Wike’s aide to explore reconciliation in N10bn suitThe Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday advised Nollywood actor Emeka Ike and Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to explore an out-of-court settlement for a N10 billion privacy breach suit brought by the thespian.
Justice Salim Ibrahim gave the advice to the parties, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during Wednesday’s proceedings.
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All the parties in the suit were represented during the hearing.
Leonard Adeh, who appeared for Mr Ike, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for further mention.
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INEC’s lawyer, Solomon Umoh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said all their processes, including a counter affidavit responding to the suit had been filed and served on the parties.
Mr Adeh acknowledged receipt of the commission’s processes which he said were only served on them on Tuesday.
He said they were still within time to respond.
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Justice Ibrahim then advised the parties to see if they could also explore amicable settlement out of court.
Responding, Mr Olayinka’s lawyer, Akpama Ekwe, who had also filed his counter-affidavit, told the court that the question about reconciliation should be answered by the applicant.
Mr Adeh then stated that if the respondents (Mr Olayinka and INEC) made an offer for settlement, “they are very much available to amicable settlement.”
The lawyer said until such offer comes, the matter should be adjourned for definite hearing.
The judge then adjourned the matter until 12 October for hearing by agreement of all the counsel.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Ike, who aspired to vie for the House of Representatives’ seat for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency, Abuja, in the 2027 general elections on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), lost the bid in a primary poll.
In May, the FCT minister’s aide allegedly mocked Mr Ike by leaking his confidential voter registration details on social media via an X post.
The post reportedly showed details of Mr Ike’s voter registration transfer from Imo State to the nation’s capital.
Meanwhile, Mr Ike, through Mr Adeh, sued Mr Olayinka and INEC.
He asked the court to declare that Mr Olayinka’s decision to publish his data on X without his approval “amounts to a gross breach and violation of the applicant’s fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data”.
Mr Ike argued that Section 37 of the Nigerian constitution, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Sections 24 & 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 guaranteed his right to privacy and personal data protection.
The actor asked the court to declare that INEC owes him and other voters a “statutory duty of care” to protect their private data against unauthorised access.
The applicant, therefore, prayed the court to award him N10 billion against Mr Olayinka and the INEC as aggravated and general damages, to be paid jointly and severally for violating his fundamental right to privacy.
He sought a declaration that the press release by INEC dated 2 June, in reaction to the viral publication and circulation of his personal voter information and private data on social media by Mr Olayinka, amounted to a tacit admission of guilt and liability to him.
Mr Ike also sought an order directing Olayinka to immediately retract and pull down the offensive post and publication on his social media X handle, @OlayinkaLere, which contained screenshots of his personal voter information and private data.
He sought an order directing him to immediately tender an unrreserved apology in writing for breach and violation of his fundamental right.
But responding in separate counter-affidavits, INEC and Mr Olayinka asked the court to dismiss the suit outright.
INEC, for its part, said the issue Mr Ike complained about in the suit was neither classified, sensitive nor confidential information.
The commission, in the counter-affidavit sworn by Anthonia Makwe, an assistant director/data protection officer in the Legal Drafting and Clearance Department of INEC, said that such information is publicly displayed and published in accordance with the Electoral Act, 2026.
It stressed that the electoral body has the “statutorily and constitutional power to make available information of its voters to the general public without the consent of any registered voter.”
It said its “statutory responsibility includes the compilation, maintenance, display, publication, certification and management of the register of voters in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act 2026, and the National Data Protection Act 2023.
It said what Mr Olayinka allegedly posted via his X handle did not emanate from the commission.
“That the 2nd respondent, as a data controller, has never breached its statutory duty of care, custody and protection of personal voter information and data, it owes the applicant and other Voters under its secured portal and restricted database.”
In his affidavit opposing the suit, Mr Olayinka stated that Mr Ike’s prayers were brought in bad faith.
He said the only information contained in the document he published was Mr Ike’s name and passport photograph, and that the information was already in the public domain..
He said contrary to Mr Ike’s averment, the information he published was already in public domain but was not accessed through any unlawful means.
Mr Olayinka stated that he owed the actor no duty of care or confidentiality and did not require his consent to publish his name and passport photograph, as that information was already in the public domain.
He said Mr Ike, who put himself forward to contest the election into the House of Representatives, should not be traumatised by the circulation of his name and passport photograph which he personally presented to the public when seeking to contest election, and as a Nollywood star.
He argued that information supplied in voters card is not private data because by the provision of Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, INEC is mandated to publish this, not latter than 90 days to a general elections.
He said contrary to Mr Ike’s claim, the only information contained in the document published by him was his name and passport photograph.
He said the publication was done when Mr Ike led a team of hoodlums to INEC office to disrupt INEC’s activities immediately he declared his intention to contest the election.
According to him, the publication was to remind him that he just transfered his voter registration area.
READ ALSO: How Wike’s aide got access to Emeka Ike’s voter details – INEC
He said it was to also draw the public attention to the statutory provision to avoid any breach of the law.
He maintained that since the applicant submitted his personal data and information to INEC and the general public when he decided to contest, he cannot feel unsafe and traumatised by the publication of his name and passport photograph.
Mr Olayinka stated that contrary to Mr Ike’s averment, INEC admitted in its press release that “there was no external breach of its CVR database, no hacking incident and no unauthorised external access to the commission’s ICT infrastructure.”
He argued that the purported injury suffered by Mr Ike was not caused by him, as he is not a data controller under the Nigerian Data Protection Act, 2023, and owes the actor no obligation to safeguard his documents.
Mr Olayinka stated that the plaintiff’s prayers, including the N10 billion, was in bad faith and “an indication that the applicant is a gold digger, who wants to reap where he did not sow.”
He insisted that he cannot pay damages for information that was already publicly accessible at the time of the publication.
He, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the suit in the interest of justice.
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