Lere Olayinka, the media aide to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has been interrogated by the police over the alleged leak of voter information from the Independent National Electoral Commission (Independent National Electoral Commission) portal.
Olayinka was reportedly quizzed on Tuesday at the Police Headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory by Operatives of the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged cyber-related offences, unauthorised access to databases, and the leakage of classified documents.
Security sources said the probe followed a formal petition submitted on behalf of INEC, alleging criminal conspiracy, cyber intimidation, and unauthorised disclosure of sensitive electoral information. A yet-to-be-identified electoral officer has also been detained in connection with the investigation.
The controversy stems from a social media post made by Olayinka on X, where he shared screenshots detailing the voter registration transfer of Nollywood actor Emeka Ike from Imo State to the Federal Capital Territory. The post raised concerns among some Nigerians, who accused him of accessing restricted INEC data.
However, INEC has denied claims of a major breach or hacking of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) system, stating that the incident resulted from the misuse of valid internal credentials by authorised personnel rather than an external attack.
Investigators reportedly believe the electoral officer in question contacted Olayinka and shared the voter registration details via private messaging platforms, including Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, in what is now part of the ongoing probe.
During interrogation, Olayinka was said to have stated that he had no prior relationship with the electoral official and was unaware that the information shared was classified. He reportedly maintained that he was not informed of any confidentiality restrictions attached to the document.
Meanwhile, the Department of State Services (DSS) is also reportedly investigating the matter as part of a broader inquiry into the alleged leak.
The Nigeria Police Force is said to be considering charges including criminal conspiracy, cyber-related offences, unauthorised disclosure of classified information, and conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace.
