By Kamsi Anayo
The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has suspended an electoral officer allegedly involved in the voter data leak concerning Nollywood actor and politician, Emeka Ike.
INEC disclosed on Thursday that investigations by security agencies and data protection regulators are still ongoing.
Mohammed Haruna, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee made the disclosure during a chat organised by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa(PAACA) in Abuja.
He said the suspension came against the backdrop of a controversy that arose after the voter registration details of actor and politician, Emeka Ike, surfaced online during a dispute linked to a political party primary election in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, preliminary findings showed there was no external breach of its ICT infrastructure or compromise of its voter register.
“The data was allegedly accessed using valid credentials assigned to officials involved in the ongoing CVR exercise and subsequently disclosed without authorisation,” Haruna stressed.
He added that the audit trail enabled investigators to identify the specific user account used to access the voter record, leading to the questioning of personnel with access to the system.
