Lere Olayinka works as a media aide to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. Police brought him in for questioning after sensitive voter data leaked from the Independent National Electoral Commission portal.
Officers from the Force Intelligence Department’s Intelligence Response Team sat down with him Tuesday at the Police Headquarters in Abuja. People familiar with the case told TheCable the session is part of a larger inquiry into cyber infractions, unauthorized database misuse, and the leaking of classified national documents.
An unidentified electoral officer is being held at the FID-IRT facility over the breach.
INEC started the process with a formal complaint. It accuses those involved of criminal conspiracy, cyber intimidation, and the unauthorized release of classified documents.
The trouble started several days ago. Olayinka posted screenshots on X, the old Twitter, showing Nollywood actor Emeka Ike’s voter registration move from Imo State to Abuja.
He put the details out there to challenge the actor-turned-politician’s bid for a House of Representatives seat in the FCT. This came right after Ike raised a fuss about the Nigeria Democratic Congress primaries.
The post drew heavy backlash. Nigerians accused Olayinka of slipping into a password-protected backend system that only INEC staff should access.
INEC released a statement on Tuesday. The commission rejected any talk of an external hack or major breach in its Continuous Voter Registration database. It blamed the leak on misuse of valid internal credentials by someone authorized to have them.
The detained electoral officer had apparently contacted Olayinka first. He offered what he called “evidence” that Ike had only just applied for the transfer and it still hadn’t been approved.
He sent the initial message through Facebook Messenger, then followed up with the voter registration document on WhatsApp.
Olayinka told investigators he had no previous connection to the man and didn’t even know his name until the exchange happened. He insisted he had no idea the material was classified. The official never warned him it was restricted.
The Department of State Services is running its own investigation into the leak.
Police are weighing charges against both Olayinka and the electoral officer. The list includes criminal conspiracy, cyber infractions, distribution of classified documents, and breach of public peace.
