By Stephen Simon
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended an electoral officer over the alleged unauthorised disclosure of voter information, assuring Nigerians that the incident did not compromise the integrity of its voter registration database.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed the suspension during a stakeholders’ engagement in Abuja, saying the officer had been relieved of his duties pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.
Haruna said preliminary findings indicated that there was no external hacking of the commission’s information technology infrastructure, explaining that the information was allegedly accessed through valid user credentials assigned to personnel involved in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
He noted that the commission had concluded its internal investigation and was awaiting the outcome of separate investigations by the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS) and relevant data protection authorities before taking further disciplinary action.
The controversy followed the circulation on social media of voter registration details belonging to actor and politician Emeka Ike during a dispute arising from a political party primary election in the Federal Capital Territory.
INEC maintained that the incident involved only a single voter record and did not affect the personal data of more than 90 million registered voters, reiterating its commitment to strengthening safeguards to protect voter information and preserve public confidence in the electoral process.
