Fire guts INEC institute

Late-night fire incident on Tuesday destroyed a section of the Electoral Institute of the Independent National Electoral Commission at the Central Business District, Abuja.

The fire, which started at about 11.55pm, was however brought under control before  substantial damage was done to the entire facility.

INEC Commissioner for Information and Public Affairs, Mr. Solomon Soyebi, said on Wednesday that preliminary reports indicated that a power surge from the high tension cable supplying electricity to the building was responsible for the fire.

He said, “We have issued a statement; we don’t have operational materials here. The high tension wire that started the electrical fire incident caused electrical burns inside.

“Some panels were affected but you will see that apart from the panels that were affected, only very minimal damage was done to the commission.

“In our principle of openness and transparency, we are here to show you exactly what the level of damage is. There is nothing like negligence here.”

Earlier, INEC in a statement said, “Relevant agencies have commenced investigation into the exact cause of the fire. Preliminary accounts, however, suggest that the fire resulted from a breach in the electricity supply cable to the institute, generating a surge which triggered fire in the electrical panel room.

“The fire service was promptly called in to join officials of the commission who had responded to contain the fire.

“INEC hereby reassures the public that the fire incident has in no way affected its main operations.”