Again, fire guts INEC headquarters

For the umpteenth time, a mysterious fire yesterday gutted the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abuja. The fire, which occurred at about noon affected the office of the former Director in charge of Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, located in the Information and Communication Technology, ICT, building.

Although, INEC said the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, it said preliminary investigation showed that it might have been triggered off by a surge in electricity supply. The commission said it has commenced investigation into the incident.

Only in January this year, there was an inferno at the same headquarters, affecting the office of the Director of Voter Registry at the same Information, Communication and Technology, ICT, unit. INEC’s Director of Publicity, Emmanuel Umengyer, had in January dismissed reports of sabotage, saying that the inferno did not affect any sensitive document.

“As you have seen, the fire incident began and ended in the office of the Director of Voter Registry only. Due to the efforts of the staff on the ground, who alerted the relevant agencies, the fire was put out before it could spread to other places and luckily, the voter registration data base was not affected and the saver was saved because the fire did not even get to that section of the building”, he had stated.

National Mirror recalls that in April, 2011 the security post of the commission was gutted by fire; on May 24, 2011 the waiting room of the office of the chairman of the commission also recorded a fire incident and at another time last year the Electoral Institute of the commission suffered similar fate. Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said the fire was put under control by security men.

“There was a minor fire incident at about mid-day today, Monday, April 22, 2013, at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abuja.

“The fire occurred in the office of the former Director in charge of Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, located in the ICT building, and was restricted to that office when it was put out. “Men of the Fire Service attached to the commission swiftly responded to put the fire out.

There was no damage whatsoever to any vital facility of the commission. “Formal investigation of the cause of the fire has commenced. Initial assessment, however, suggests that it might have resulted from an electrical fault,” Idowu stated.