● CRG Director says unauthorized access to voter database threatens 2027 poll integrity
Director of the Centre for Responsive Governance, Com. Ayo Ologun, has warned that alleged access to INEC’s backend voter database by presidential aide Lere Olayinka poses a deeper threat to electoral integrity, data security and public trust ahead of 2027.
Speaking Wednesday on _Frontline_, Eagle 102.5 FM Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State, Ologun said the issue goes beyond a technical breach and reflects Nigeria’s wider problem of “no consequences for action.”
–“Our data as Nigerians are not safe”–
“This is not a general information. It is not something you can Google. It is a document that is passworded,” Ologun said.
“It is a document from the backend, which means if you do not have access officially to such, you cannot have what is obtainable at that backend server.”
He warned that any unauthorized access raises fears about voter data protection and the integrity of electoral systems.
“Our data as Nigerians are not safe,” he stated, alleging possible “internal sabotage” within sensitive government systems.
–“Within every system there are saboteurs”–
Ologun linked the development to political impunity: “Within every system, including the military and now INEC, there are saboteurs, people who are within the system, looking for powers outside of the system.”
He referenced unchecked authority around FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, through media aide Olayinka, citing Wike’s past remark about journalist Seun Okinbaloye: “If he had a gun, he would have killed him if he was in the studio.”
“That statement… ordinarily, if made by a public figure, will have cost him his office, but no meaningful consequences followed,” Ologun said.
–“If he gets away with it, we have two laws”–
The CRG director insisted the INEC backend case must be thoroughly investigated.
“If Lere Olayinka gets away with this, it shows that we have laws that are different. One for the poor and the ordinary. One for those who are in power,” he warned.
He raised the electoral stakes: “If an individual… can have access to information at the back end, who says that same person cannot influence the collation of results?”
–INEC must name and sanction, not just deny–
Reacting to INEC’s denial of hacking, Ologun noted the commission said access came via legitimate credentials of voter registration personnel.
“They know who logged in. They know the officials that have that access… what has become of that individual?” he asked.
He argued that even without naming names, INEC must confirm disciplinary action was taken: “Transparency, not secrecy, is essential for rebuilding confidence.”
“We live in a nation where they make information look like it is the date of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ,” he said, urging INEC to go beyond press statements.
Ologun backed Atiku Abubakar’s call for a full-scale probe: “If this can happen with voters’ information, political parties are right to not be comfortable with what could happen with the record of our votes.”
–2027 electoral arithmetic–
Ologun also warned that fragmented opposition could hand victory to the ruling APC. Citing aspirants like Seyi Makinde, Omoyele Sowore and Adewole Adebayo, he said “vote splitting” benefits incumbents.
“Mere 6 or 7 million by Bola Tinubu will throw him into the president for his second term,” he said, arguing that elite bargaining, trust deficits and regional interests — not unified blocs — will shape 2027.
He cautioned former President Goodluck Jonathan against being used as a “pawn” in factionalm PDP politics without clear structural backing.
