The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced an investigation into the alleged exposure of actor Emeka Ike’s voter details and claims of misuse of authorised access to its database.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Mohammed Haruna, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), said the probe was triggered by allegations of unauthorised access to the Commission’s Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database and the publication of information relating to Emeka Ike, a candidate in the recent Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries in the Federal Capital Territory.
“The Commission takes this allegation seriously and has immediately commenced a thorough investigation to establish the facts surrounding the incident,” the statement said.
INEC explained that authorised registration officers were granted limited access to parts of the CVR system during the ongoing nationwide voter registration exercise to perform official duties such as registering new voters, processing transfer requests and updating records.
“As part of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise nationwide, authorised INEC Registration Officers were granted controlled access to specific components of the CVR system to enable them to register new applicants, process requests for the transfer of registration and update voter records where necessary. Such access is restricted to official duties only and is withdrawn at the conclusion of the exercise.”
According to the commission, preliminary findings from its audit trail have identified the user account through which the information was accessed.
“Accordingly, relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected with the incident are cooperating fully with the investigation.
“The Commission is also examining all technical, administrative and operational factors associated with the matter in order to establish individual responsibility and determine the circumstances surrounding the use of those credentials and identify any breach of internal access-control protocols before taking appropriate action against anyone involved.”
INEC further disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS) has launched a separate investigation into the matter.
The commission pledged full cooperation with security agencies and vowed to pursue legal action against anyone found responsible.
However, INEC assured Nigerians that the retrieval of a single voter record does not mean its wider voter database has been compromised.
It stressed that there is no indication that the personal information of more than 90 million registered voters has been breached.
The controversy emerged after Emeka Ike threatened legal action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged disclosure of his personal information obtained from the INEC portal.
The actor recently contested for the House of Representatives seat representing the AMAC/Bwari constituency under the NDC platform.