INEC has reassured that the fire incident will not affect the forthcoming 2015 general elections, even as it insisted that only the electoral materials used in the 2011 elections were destroyed by the inferno. The INEC Director Security Directorate, Shettima Ngiladar and his counterpart, the Fire Commander, Fidelis Iroegbu, who addressed journalists at the scene of the incident said that no single sensitive or non-sensitive materials meant for the 2015 elections was kept at the Electoral Institute that was consumed.
On how the
inferno that lasted more than three hours started, Iroegbu said; “it was
actually an electrical spark resulting from electricity power surge when the
Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) restored light. A thick smoke was
noticed from the warehouse but there was no way to gain access into the place.
I had to contact the federal and FCT fire services, and we used some break-in
tools to gain access to the warehouse before we could salvage the situation”.
While reassuring that the inferno will not affect the scheduled 2015 general
elections, the director of security said the election materials were not kept
anywhere around the Electoral Institute. “The materials for the 2015 elections
were not among the materials involved in the fire incidence.
What the fire
consumed was the obsolete disused electoral materials used during the 2011
elections which were waiting for the right time to be disposed. “They are not
even non-sensitive materials for the 2015 elections. From the report at our
disposal, the fire started at about 11.00pm and lasted three hours before it
was put off by 2.00am. The major problem they had was getting close to the base
of the fire incidence because the keys were not in this complex. They had to
forcefully gain entrance into the place.
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