Atiku Calls for Immediate Answers from INEC Over Unauthorized Voter Database Access

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Vice President, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide immediate answers regarding the unauthorized disclosure of data from its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) database.

Atiku made the demand through a statement issued by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, on Tuesday.

Earlier, concerns were raised about unauthorized access to INEC’s CVR system and the release of information related to a political party’s candidate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In response on Tuesday, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, announced that the commission had begun an investigation.

INEC denied that a data breach had occurred.

Atiku replied that INEC’s statement only underscored the need for a comprehensive, transparent, and independent inquiry into the matter.

He noted that while INEC had assured Nigerians that there was no external hacking incident or breach of its ICT infrastructure, the commission had admitted that sensitive voter information was accessed using valid official credentials and subsequently released without authorization.

“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. That admission alone should concern every Nigerian,” he said.

“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? 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 added.