By Desire Emmanuel
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, June 2, confirmed that Lere Olayinka, a media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, gained access to its database to retrieve information about Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike, through some of its officials.
INEC disclosed this in a statement while reacting to reports on the social media which indicated that the minister’s aide posted the data of the actor, who was an aspirant in the FCT, which he got through the database of the electoral umpire.
INEC said the audit trail from the preliminary investigation it carried out enabled it to identify the user account through which the information was accessed, adding that the relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected with the incident are cooperating with the investigation.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been drawn to allegations currently circulating on social media and in some sections of the media regarding the alleged unauthorised access to the commission’s Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database and the subsequent publication of information on a candidate in the recent primaries of a political party in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“The commission takes this allegation seriously and has immediately commenced a thorough investigation to establish the facts surrounding the incident.
“As part of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise nationwide, authorised INEC Registration Officers were granted controlled access to specific components of the CVR system to enable them register new applicants, process requests for transfer of registration and update voter records where necessary. Such access is restricted to official duties only and is withdrawn at the conclusion of the exercise.
“The audit trail from the preliminary investigation has enabled the commission to identify the user account through which the information was accessed. Accordingly, relevant personnel have been questioned, and all units connected with the incident are cooperating fully with the investigation.
“The commission is also examining all technical, administrative and operational factors associated with the matter in order to establish individual responsibility and determine the circumstances surrounding the use of those credentials and identify any breach of internal access-control protocols before taking appropriate action against anyone involved.
“Preliminary findings from the commission’s audit trail so far, however, 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. 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 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.
Furthermore, the Department of State Services (DSS), on its own accord, has commenced an independent 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.”
