Fire guts INEC office in Abia, destroys electoral materials, office equipment

Fire has gutted the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State, the electoral umpire disclosed.

INEC Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, who made the disclosure in a statement on Monday, also added that the commission held a meeting to discuss a wide range of issues, including a disturbing report from the state.

Okoye said INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (INEC) for the State, Dr. Joseph Iloh, reported that the recently renovated office has been set ablaze.

“The incident occurred late on Sunday night, 9th May 2021. There are no casualties on the part of our staff on guard duty but the building was virtually destroyed,” the statement said.

It continued, “Apart from furniture items, all electoral materials and office equipment were destroyed. The matter has been reported to the police for investigation.”

The commission further lamented that the latest incident in Abia State is one too many, noting that its facility has been attacked in the south-eastern state in recent times.

On December 13, 2020, the INEC office in Aba South was completely burnt down while that of Arochukwu was vandalised and ransacked in October 2020.

While describing the vandalised facilities as national assets, INEC said they must be protected.

The Commission said it would be convening an emergency meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) next week to discuss this disturbing trend.

It, however reassured Nigerians that all activities in relation to the ongoing expansion of voter access to Polling Units and preparations for the resumption of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) as well as all scheduled elections will proceed as planned.