A Federal High Court in Abuja has advised Nollywood actor Emeka Ike and Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to explore an out-of-court settlement in the actor’s N10bn fundamental rights suit over alleged violation of his privacy.
Justice Salim Ibrahim gave the advice on Wednesday during proceedings in the case, which also has the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a respondent.
When the matter was called, counsel to Ike, Leonard Adeh, told the court that the case was scheduled for further mention.
INEC’s lawyer, Solomon Umoh (SAN), informed the court that the commission had filed and served all its processes, including a counter-affidavit challenging the suit.
Adeh acknowledged receiving the documents but said they were only served on Tuesday and that his client was still within the time allowed to respond.
Justice Ibrahim then suggested that the parties consider resolving the dispute amicably outside the courtroom.
Responding, counsel to Olayinka, Akpama Ekwe, said the question of reconciliation should be answered by the applicant.
Adeh, however, told the court that Ike was open to settlement if the respondents initiated discussions.
“If the respondents make an offer for settlement, they are very much available to amicable settlement,” he said.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter until October 12 for hearing.
The suit stems from a social media post allegedly made by Olayinka in May, in which he was accused of publishing Ike’s voter registration details after the actor lost the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primary election for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Ike, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1272/2026, is asking the court to declare that Olayinka’s publication of his voter registration details on X without his consent violated his constitutional right to privacy and protections under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
He also contends that INEC failed in its statutory duty to protect the personal data of registered voters.
The actor is seeking N10bn in aggravated and general damages against Olayinka and INEC, to be paid jointly and severally.
He is also asking the court to compel Olayinka to delete the post from his X account, issue a written apology, and declare that INEC’s June 2 press statement on the controversy amounted to an admission of liability.
However, both INEC and Olayinka urged the court to dismiss the suit.
INEC argued in its counter-affidavit that the information complained of was neither confidential nor sensitive, insisting that voter details are published in line with the Electoral Act, 2026.
The commission maintained that it has constitutional and statutory authority to compile, display and publish voter information and that the document allegedly circulated by Olayinka did not originate from its database. It also denied any breach of its data protection obligations.
Olayinka, in his own counter-affidavit, argued that the information he published consisted only of Ike’s name and passport photograph, which he said were already in the public domain.
He maintained that he did not unlawfully access any database, owed Ike no duty of confidentiality, and required no consent to publish information that was publicly available.
The FCT minister’s aide further claimed the publication was made after Ike allegedly led supporters to disrupt activities at an INEC office following his declaration to contest the election.
According to him, the post was intended to draw attention to the actor’s recent transfer of voter registration and the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act.
Olayinka also dismissed the N10bn damages claim as baseless, arguing that Ike could not claim to have suffered injury over information already accessible to the public. He urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
(The Whistler)
