Fire at INEC building will not affect elections – Official

The fire that engulfed a part of the Electoral Institute of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will not affect the general elections, an official has said.

Since the news of the fire incident broke early Sunday, there has been apprehension that sensitive materials for the elections could have been affected.

The warehouse of the institute, located along Airport road, Abuja, was gutted by fire, said to have started at about 11 p.m. on Saturday and put out at about 2 a.m. on Sunday.

According to INEC Director of Security, Shettima Ngilladar, only non-sensitive materials used during the 2011 elections were stored in the warehouse.
Mr. Ngilladar also dismissed speculations that the fire was politically motivated.

While conducting journalists around the warehouse, he said the incident was caused by an ‘electric fault.’

“These are non-sensitive materials that have been banned in the warehouse. You will see it yourself, it is not hidden,” he said.

“It is something clear, this banned non-sensitive materials have nothing to do with the (March 28 and April 11) elections.

“They are old materials in store that have not been evacuated. These are old stock of non sensitive materials, like bags, envelopes, election forms which were used in 2011. They won’t be used for 2015 elections. Everything here is non-sensitive. Police are on ground and security investigation is on.”