Veteran Nollywood actor Emeka Ike has suffered a legal setback after a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed his N10 billion lawsuit against Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The legal battle stemmed from Olayinka's publication of details from the INEC database concerning Ike's transfer of his voter registration from Imo State to Abuja.

The disclosure occurred while Ike was pursuing a political bid for the AMAC/Bwari federal constituency seat ahead of the 2027 general elections under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

Ike had approached the court arguing that sharing his voter registration information without his consent violated his fundamental right to privacy and data protection.

He sought an order compelling Olayinka to delete the post, issue a public retraction, and tender a written apology, alongside N10 billion in general and aggravated damages from both defendants.

In their defense, Olayinka maintained that the published information—including Ike's name and passport photograph—was not confidential and was already publicly accessible, while INEC firmly denied any external breach or hacking of its database.

Delivering his ruling, Justice Salim Ibrahim upheld the objections raised by the defendants, describing Ike’s suit as "incompetent and improperly constituted".

The court subsequently dismissed the case for lack of proof, bringing an immediate halt to the actor's legal bid for damages.

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