The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced an investigation into the alleged leak of actor Emeka Ike’s voter registration details and the suspected misuse of authorised access to its database.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Haruna, said the probe was prompted by allegations of unauthorised access to the Commission’s Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database and the subsequent publication of information relating to Emeka Ike during 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 read in part.
“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 Such access is restricted to official duties only and is withdrawn at the conclusion of the exercise.”
INEC disclosed that preliminary findings from its audit trail had enabled investigators to identify 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,” the electoral body stated.
The commission also revealed that the Department of State Services (DSS) has launched a separate investigation into the matter.
INEC assured Nigerians that it would cooperate fully with security agencies and take appropriate action against anyone found culpable.
“The Commission will cooperate fully with all relevant security agencies and will not hesitate to refer any person found culpable for appropriate legal action,” it said.
However, the electoral commission maintained that the incident did not amount to a wider compromise of its voter registration system.
It explained that the retrieval of a single voter’s record should not be interpreted as a breach of the broader database containing the details of more than 90 million registered voters.
The controversy arose after veteran Nollywood actor Emeka Ike threatened legal action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged publication of his personal information obtained from the INEC portal.
Ike recently contested for the House of Representatives seat representing the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency under the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
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