The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced investigation into allegations of unauthorised access to its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database following the publication of information relating to an aspirant in a recent party primary election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the commission was treating the matter with utmost seriousness.
Disclosing that preliminary findings from its internal audit trail pointed squarely inward, INEC said the Department of State Services (DSS) is currently running a parallel probe into the data breach.
It explained that as part of the ongoing nationwide CVR exercise, authorised registration officers were granted controlled access to specific components of the registration system to enable them to carry out voter registration, transfer requests and updates to voter records.
Nollywood veteran, Emeka Ike has threatened to take action against Lere Olayinka, media aide to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, over the alleged exposure of his personal data from INEC’s portal.
Ike, a native of Imo State, contested the House of Representatives seat for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in the Federal Capital Territory under the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) and lost.
Olayinka recently came under criticism after sharing what appeared to be Ike’s voter information via an INEC administrative webpage.
On his X handle on Saturday, Olayinka wrote that Ike was formerly a registered voter in Imo State before transferring his registration to the FCT.
Olayinka attached two images to the post, which many users said contained details obtained from INEC’s administrative login portal.
Some of the personal information in the screenshots included Ike’s application number, registration centre, Voter Identification Number, profile picture, name, and date of application.
Reacting during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Ike described Olayinka’s action as shocking and the height of political rascality.
The electoral umpire has now come out to explain that such access is strictly limited to official duties and is withdrawn once the exercise concludes.
“The audit trail from the preliminary investigation has enabled the Commission 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,” it said.
INEC added that it was examining all technical, administrative and operational aspects of the matter to determine responsibility and establish whether any internal access-control procedures were violated.
The commission, however, made it clear that its preliminary findings showed there was no external breach of its systems.
“Preliminary findings from the Commission’s audit trail so far indicate that there was no external breach of the CVR database, no hacking incident, and no unauthorised external access to the Commission’s ICT infrastructure.
“Rather, the information in question was accessed through valid user credentials assigned to personnel participating in the ongoing CVR exercise but released without authority,” the statement added.
INEC emphasised that the incident involved the retrieval of a specific voter record and did not suggest any compromise of the wider voter registration system or the personal information of more than 90 million registered voters.
INEC reaffirmed its commitment to protecting voter information and maintaining the integrity of the electoral systems.
“Furthermore, the Department of State Services, on its own accord, has commenced an independent investigation into the matter. The Commission will continue to cooperate fully with all relevant security agencies and will not hesitate to refer any person found culpable for appropriate legal action,” the statement added.
