RismadarVoice Reporters
June 2, 2026
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called for a comprehensive investigation into the alleged unauthorised disclosure of information from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database.
Atiku’s demand follows INEC’s admission that the voter information at the centre of a recent controversy was accessed using valid official credentials assigned to personnel involved in the ongoing CVR exercise and subsequently released without authorisation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the electoral body’s explanation had shifted concerns from fears of external hacking to questions about internal security controls and possible political interference.
“INEC’s statement has moved this issue beyond conjecture. The Commission has now confirmed that voter information was accessed through credentials assigned to personnel participating in the ongoing CVR exercise and that such information was released without authority,” Atiku said.
He argued that the key issue is how information contained in a restricted electoral database found its way into the public domain.
“What Nigerians want to know is simple: how did information that resides within a restricted electoral database find its way into the hands of political actors and their associates?” he asked.
The former vice president maintained that the absence of an external cyberattack does not reduce the seriousness of the incident.
“The fact that there was no external hack does not diminish the gravity of the incident. If anything, it raises even more troubling questions about internal controls, institutional safeguards, and the possibility of political interference,” he stated.
Atiku specifically referenced Lere Olayinka, spokesman to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who publicly released the information that sparked the controversy.
According to him, the source of the information has heightened concerns about how sensitive electoral data is being handled.
“What makes this entire episode impossible to ignore is that the information in question did not emerge from a whistleblower, an investigative journalist, or an anti-corruption agency. It was publicly released by Mr Lere Olayinka, spokesman to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike,” Atiku said.
He questioned how information stored within what INEC describes as a secure electoral database could have been obtained by the spokesman of a serving minister.
The former vice president also linked the controversy to recent political comments made by Wike regarding the 2027 presidential election, suggesting that the circumstances surrounding the disclosure warrant closer scrutiny.
INEC had earlier announced that relevant personnel connected to the incident had been questioned and that the Department of State Services (DSS) had commenced an independent investigation.
Welcoming the DSS probe, Atiku urged investigators to conduct a thorough and impartial inquiry.
“The Nigerian people will expect that investigation to be thorough, impartial, and fearless. No individual, regardless of political influence or proximity to power, should be beyond scrutiny,” he said.
He further called on INEC to make public the full findings of its investigation, warning that failure to transparently resolve the matter could undermine public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“The credibility of the 2027 election will not be determined solely on election day. It is being shaped right now by the willingness of institutions to demonstrate transparency, accountability, and independence,” Atiku stated.
“Democracy flourishes in transparency, accountability, and public trust—not in secrecy and unanswered questions,” he added.
