The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has condemned the fire attack on the commission’s local government office in Ogun State that damaged crucial papers with just three months until the general elections of 2023.
The commission’s office in Abeokuta was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Thursday, according to SaharaReporters.
It stated that a group of thugs, estimated to number eight, stormed the outer fence, ran inside, and set fire to the INEC building from the back.
However, the electoral umpire claimed that more than 65,000 uncollected PVCs were destroyed in the fire in an official statement in response to the fire attack.
Festus Okoye, the INEC commissioner for information and voter education, signed a statement on behalf of the commission stating that all movable assets, including 65,699 uncollected permanent voters cards (PVCs), 904 ballot boxes, 29 voting cubicles, 30 megaphones, 57 election bags, and 8 electricity generators, were destroyed.
The statement said: “Our office in the Abeokuta South local government area was attacked and set on fire, according to Dr. Niyi Ijalaiye, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) for Ogun State.
Around 1.15 am, some unidentified individuals overpowered the on-duty security staff and set the entire facility on fire.
Okoye claimed that one of the commission’s offices in Osun had also been attacked and set on fire and that a security meeting had been convened immediately to investigate the threats to the election.
In a similar vein, he added, “Dr. Mutiu Agboke, the resident electoral commissioner for the state of Osun, stated that our office in the Ede South local government area had been attacked and set on fire.
The attack on the structure and subsequent setting of a piece of it on fire took place in the wee hours of this morning.
“Thankfully, just a portion of our Ede South local government office was damaged, and only a few pieces of furniture were destroyed.
The incidents have caught the attention of the Nigeria Police Force and other security and safety organizations, who have started an inquiry.
Okoye bemoaned the rise in cases of violence against members of political parties since the campaign’s start, which was only two months ago, and the use of hateful and inflammatory language by some politicians, both of which she said are deeply distressing.
He claims that to discuss the alarming trend, INEC has called an urgent meeting of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security (ICES) for Friday.
