Polls: INEC allays fears over warehouse fire incident

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained that the fire that gutted the warehouse of its training institute in Abuja last Satur­day will not affect the forth­coming general elections, in­sisting that only the electoral materials used in the 2011 elections were consumed by the inferno.
Both the Director, Security Directorate of INEC, Shettima Ngiladar and the Fire Com­mander, Fidelis Iroegbu, who took time to speak to journal­ists at the scene of the incident maintained that no single sen­sitive or non-sensitive materi­als for the 2015 elections was kept anywhere close to the warehouse that the fire gutted.
Explaining how the inferno that lasted three hours started, Iroegbu said: “Actually, it was an ordinary electrical spark due to power surge when the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) restored light. The security men said they heard a noise in the ware­house, which actually came from the installation panel.
“They said thick smoke started coming from the ware­house but there was nowhere to gain access. I had to contact some fire stations like the fed­eral and FCT fire services, and we used some tools to gain ac­cess to the warehouse before we could salvage the situa­tion,” he explained.
Similarly, the director se­curity that allayed the fears of the incident affecting the gen­eral elections, said: “The ma­terials for the 2015 elections were not among the materials involved in the fire incident. They were the electoral ma­terials used during the 2011 elections more or less 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 incident because the keys were not in this complex. They had to forcefully gain entrance into the place.
“Again, the heap of the ma­terials in the warehouse did not also allow them access to the base. From the report, it started due to power surge.”