The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has identified the user account through which a voter record was accessed and released without authorisation.
INEC’s explanation comes after Lere Olayinka, media aide to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, published information showing that Emeka Ike, an aspirant of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Bwari/AMAC federal constituency seat, had transferred his voter registration from Imo State to the FCT on May 15.
Olayinka said the recent transfer by the Nollywood actor shows that he was never a voter in the FCT, questioning why Ike did not contest in Imo state, where he has always voted during elections.
The disclosure sparked criticism on social media, with many Nigerians questioning how information from INEC’s voter registration database was obtained.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mohammed Haruna, INEC national commissioner and chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, said the commission had commenced a thorough investigation into the incident.
“The Commission takes this allegation seriously and has immediately commenced a thorough investigation to establish the facts surrounding the incident,” Haruna said.
He explained that authorised registration officers participating in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise were granted limited access to specific components of the voter registration system for official duties.
“Such access is restricted to official duties only and is withdrawn at the conclusion of the exercise,” he said.
ACCOUNT OF THE SUSPECT HAS BEEN DETECTED
According to Haruna, preliminary findings from the commission’s audit trail have enabled INEC to identify the account through which the information was accessed.
“The audit trail from the preliminary investigation has enabled the Commission to identify the user account through which the information was accessed,” he said.
“Accordingly, relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected with the incident are cooperating fully with the investigation.”
Haruna said the commission is examining the technical, administrative and operational circumstances surrounding the incident to determine whether internal protocols were violated and who may be responsible.
NO HACKING OF INEC DATABASE
He, however, dismissed claims that INEC’s voter registration infrastructure had been hacked.
“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,” he said.
“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 national commissioner stressed that the incident involved the retrieval of a specific voter record and did not affect the personal information of Nigeria’s more than 90 million registered voters.
“The incident under investigation relates to the retrieval of a specific voter record and does not indicate any compromise of the Commission’s broader voter registration infrastructure or the personal data of over 90 million registered voters,” he said.
Haruna said the commission remained committed to protecting voter information and maintaining the integrity of its systems.
“The Commission wishes to state categorically that it takes the security, confidentiality and integrity of voter data with the utmost seriousness,” he said.
He added that the Department of State Services (DSS) had independently commenced an 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,” Haruna said.
INEC urged members of the public to disregard speculation while investigations continue, assuring that its findings would be made public at the conclusion of the probe.
