Voters Registry Section Burnt In INEC Fire Outbreak

Fire on Monday in Abuja engulfed a section of the building of the national headquarters of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the fire started at 9.30 a.m., razing the office of the commission's Director of Voter Registry.

Speaking on the incident, the INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Mr Chidi Nwafor, told NAN that the staff members attempted to put out the fire without success. He explained that the Federal Fire Service and the National Emergency Agency (NEMA) came to put off the fire.

“The fire service and NEMA were promptly called in to join officials of the commission, who responded to contain the fire,” he said. According to him, the preliminary investigation showed that only documents and equipment in the Voter Registry Director's office are affected.

“As I am talking to you it is only the documents and equipment in the office that were burnt, but no life was lost. “I can assure you that all the data on voter registration, election items and other related data are intact and not even within the area of the fire outbreak. There is no cause for alarm,' he said.

The director said that the relevant agencies had begun proper investigation into the cause of the fire. NAN recalls that a similar incident occurred on May 16, 2012 at the Electoral Institute, Abuja. The fire outbreak then resulted from an electrical fault. (NAN)