INEC Must Explain Voter Data Leak, Atiku Demands Full Investigation

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called for a comprehensive investigation into the alleged leak of voter information from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database.

Atiku said INEC’s recent admission that voter information was accessed using valid official credentials and later released without authorization has deepened concerns about possible internal compromise and political interference within the electoral body.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president questioned how sensitive voter information stored in a restricted electoral database ended up in the public domain.

According to him, the controversy has now moved beyond allegations of external hacking, since INEC confirmed that the data was accessed through accounts assigned to personnel participating in the ongoing voter registration exercise.

“At this point, Nigerians deserve clear answers. How did information stored within a supposedly secure electoral system find its way into the possession of political actors and their associates?” Atiku asked.

He stressed that the absence of an external cyberattack does not reduce the seriousness of the incident, but instead raises fresh concerns about institutional safeguards and the neutrality of the electoral commission.

Atiku also pointed to the role played by Lere Olayinka, spokesman to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who publicly released the voter information that sparked the controversy.

He argued that Nigerians are entitled to know how information from INEC’s internal database allegedly ended up in the hands of associates of a serving minister.

The ADC presidential candidate further linked the development to recent comments made by Wike concerning the 2027 presidential election, noting that the FCT minister had confidently declared that Atiku would not secure up to 10 percent of votes in Rivers State.

According to Atiku, such remarks have fueled suspicions about whether politically connected individuals may have privileged access to institutions expected to remain neutral.

He warned that the issue now goes beyond the unauthorized disclosure of a single voter record and has become a major test of public confidence in the independence and integrity of Nigeria’s electoral institutions.

Atiku therefore called on INEC to publicly disclose the complete chain of custody surrounding the leaked information, including details of who accessed the data, who authorized its release, who received it, and how it eventually got into the public domain.