UPDATED: Kaduna electoral commission office on fire

The Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECOM) head office has been gutted by fire on Saturday less than a month to the state local government elections.

The fire started around 10 a.m. on the top floor of the building located along Sokoto Road.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and it was not clear whether there were casualties.

Fire fighters arrived the scene around 11 a.m. to put out the inferno.

The chairman of Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission, Saratu Dikko, said the offices of the chairman, legal department, finance department and the conference room were affected by the fire.

Ms Saratu said members of the commission were in an emergency meeting in the chairman’s office when the fire started.

Addressing journalists on the fire incident at the head office, she said no life was lost in the fire.

The statement reads as follows: “The offices of Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission this morning at about 10:30am went up in flames (on the 2nd floor).

“The cause of the fire is not yet known. The fire affected all the offices on the 2nd floor, including the offices of the Chairman, the Legal Department, Finance Department and the Conference room.

“No life was lost, and there were no injuries recorded. At the time the fire started, the members of the Commission were in an emergency meeting in the Chairman’s Office”.

According to the statement, the ground floor and stores were not affected by the fire while details of the losses incurred will take few days to determine.

“The fire service and police are investigating the immediate remote causes of the fire,” she said.

The chairman didn’t entertain questions from journalists on whether the local government election slated for May 12 will be affected by the fire incident.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the head office of the Electoral body was gutted with fire less than a month to the local elections.