TheCable

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says an initial assessment of the fire outbreak at its Anambra office showed that 4,695 card readers were destroyed.

Festus Okoye, a national commissioner at INEC, said this in a statement on Tuesday night.

He said the commission had started mopping up spare card readers to make sure that elections go as planned in the state.

“This is the third of such incidents in the past 12 days, following closely behind those of Isiala Ngwa and Qua’an Pan Local Government offices in Abia and Plateau states respectively,” the statement read.

“While the commission awaits the details of the latest incident, it notes with some relief that there was no fatality or injury reported. Initial assessment, however, confirms that a total of 4695 of the smart card readers were destroyed in the inferno.

“While this is, no doubt, a setback to our preparations for the smooth conduct of the elections in Anambra state, the commission has taken immediate measures to ameliorate the situation, by mopping up some of the spare card readers from other states to deploy to Anambra state.

“With the steps so far taken, the commission remains confident that the election in the state will proceed as scheduled.”

The Abia office of the commission was reported to have been set ablaze by aggrieved persons while a drunk security man reportedly caused the fire outbreak in Plateau.