The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended an electoral officer allegedly involved in a voter data leak concerning Nollywood actor and politician Emeka Ike.
The Commission disclosed on Thursday that investigations by security agencies and data protection regulators are still ongoing.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, made the disclosure during a fireside chat organized by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) in Abuja.
The suspension came against the backdrop of a brewing controversy that arose after the voter registration details of the actor surfaced online.
The leak occurred during a dispute linked to a political party primary election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The electoral body stated that preliminary findings showed there was no external breach of its ICT infrastructure or any compromise of its central voter register.
Instead, according to the Commission, the data was allegedly accessed using valid credentials assigned to officials involved in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and was subsequently disclosed without authorization.
INEC noted that its internal audit trail enabled investigators to pinpoint the specific user account used to access the voter record, which quickly led to the questioning and subsequent suspension of personnel with access to that system.