Two more INEC offices razed in south-east — fourth in a week

Two more offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been razed by unknown hoodlums.

INEC said the two offices in Ebonyi state were burnt down on Tuesday night, making it the fourth razed in the south-east in one week.

On Tuesday, the commission’s headquarters in Enugu was burnt down, three days after one of its offices in Udenu LGA of the state was razed.

The offices of the commission in Akwa Ibom and Abia were also razed earlier in the month.

Writing his its Twitter handle on Wednesday, INEC said: “Last night, Tuesday 18th May 2021, two INEC offices in Ebonyi and Ezza North Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State were burnt down by unidentified persons.

“No casualties but extensive damages to the building and facilities.”

The electoral umpire had expressed worry that the attacks may affect its preparations for the 2023 general elections.

Festus Okoye, INEC’s spokesperson, said during a Channels TV programme on Tuesday that the commission has lost sensitive and non-sensitive materials, including generators and card readers, as a result of the incidents.

“In relation to some of these attacks and their implications, you know at the local government level, the electoral officers serve more or less as managing directors of our elections,” he had said.

“We do not conduct elections at our INEC headquarters. It is at the base level that these elections are conducted. You also know that we just finished verification relating to the expansion of voters’ access to the polling units. It was at the various local government offices that these were coordinated. They coordinated the geo-referencing of the old and new polling units.”