65,000 PVC, 904 Ballot Boxes, Destroyed In Ogun INEC Office Fire
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released an update on its Abeokuta south office, which was set ablaze on Thursday by suspected arsonists.
The office is located at Iyana mortuary in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital,
The state INEC resident electoral commissioner, doctor Niyi Ijalaiye, in a statement issued by the spokesman of the electoral body, Doctor Festus Okoye, said the fire destroyed the main building and movable assets in the office.
He lists items destroyed, as including 904 ballot boxes, 29 voting cubicles, 30 megaphones, 57 election bags, eight electric generating sets and 65,699 Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) yet to be collected by their owners.
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Suspected Arsons Set INEC Office On Fire In Abeokuta
According to the resident electoral commissioner, the suspected arsonists at about 1:15 am on Thursday, overpowered security guards on duty, and set the entire office on fire.
Also on Thursday, the office of INEC in Ede south local government area of Osun state was set on fire in the early hours of the day.
Osun state resident electoral commissioner, Doctor Mutiu Agboke, said destruction by the fire was limited to a section of the building and some furniture items.
Meanwhile, INEC has said that police, other security agencies and safety agencies have begun investigations of the incidents.
INEC, however, says the simultaneous attacks on its offices in Ogun and Osun states, are worrisome, coming 106 days to the 2023 polls, when it has begun moving of electoral materials to its offices nationwide.