Incorporated Trustees of the Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative (DRLI) have sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, over the commission’s alleged failure to publish a privacy policy on its official website.

In Suit No. FHC/YNG/CS/148/2026, the applicants are challenging the absence of a privacy policy on INEC’s official website, https://wp1.inecnigeria.org/, arguing that the commission has failed to disclose how the personal data of website users, voters and other data subjects is collected, processed, stored, shared and protected.

The applicants in the suit are Incorporated Trustees of the Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative (for and on behalf of its members in Bayelsa State and other parts of Nigeria) and Solomon Etisang, while INEC is the sole respondent.

The claimants are asking the court to declare that INEC’s failure to publish a privacy policy constitutes a breach of its statutory transparency obligations under the NDPA. They further seek declarations that the commission has breached its duty of care under Section 24(3) of the Act and failed to comply with its obligation under Section 27(1) to provide relevant information to data subjects.

ALSO, Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed July 14 for the hearing of the Substantive suit filed by a Presidential Candidate of the Accord Party, Gbenga Hashim, who is seeking an order compelling the party to recognise him as its presidential candidate for the 2027 General Election and transmit his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiff is asking the court to determine whether the party’s failure to upload his name to INEC’s nomination portal, despite his emergence as the sole winner of the presidential primary, violates the Electoral Act, 2026, the Constitution, and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.

Hashim is seeking a declaration that the party’s refusal to forward his name to INEC amounts to a breach of Section 86 of the Electoral Act, 2026, as well as Clauses 28(1) and 28(2) of the electoral guidelines governing the nomination of candidates.

After hearing all parties, the presiding judge granted the application for adjournment and fixed Tuesday, July 14, 2026, for the hearing of the substantive suit.