‘Nothing sensitive was destroyed’ — INEC speaks on fire outbreak

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says nothing sensitive was destroyed in the fire outbreak at its head office earlier on Friday.

In a statement, Festus Okoye, INEC’s chairman of information and voter education, said only some furniture and equipment were destroyed.

Okoye said the incident will not affect the operations of the commission in any way.

“At 11.30am today, 17. April 2020, a fire outbreak occurred at a section of the building housing the Election and Party Monitoring Department and the Media Centre,” he said.

“The building is an annex, detached from the main building of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s headquarters.

“Fire fighters attached to the Commission swiftly responded to contain the inferno and they were later joined by their colleagues from the Federal Fire Service headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“The fire was extinguished within a short period of time and did not cause any substantial damage to the building.

“Apart from some office furniture and equipment, nothing sensitive was destroyed. Reports of party primaries and conventions are intact. The campaign finance database is also not affected.

“The incident will therefore not affect the administrative or technical operations of the Commission in any way.”

Okoye said investigation into the cause of the fire incident has commenced.