Fire guts Kogi election commission’s office on eve of LG poll

Fire on Friday gutted the Bassa Local Government office of the State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC) in Kogi.

The incident came few hours after three opposition parties had announced a boycott of Saturday’s local government elections in Kogi,

The incident occurred at about 8 p.m, shortly after the office had taken delivery of election materials from Lokoja ahead of Saturday’s polls.

The fire however destroyed all the election materials and other office equipment.

Adejoh Idachaba, the state Electoral Commissioner in charge of Media and Public Affairs, confirmed the incident.

He however alleged that the fire incident was the handiwork of arsonists, saying their aim was apparently to stop the elections.

Mr. Idachaba said Saturday’s elections would nonetheless still hold in the area as fresh materials would be delivered in the morning under tight security.

“The loss of the materials to fire will not stop the elections,’’ he said.

When contacted on the incident, the Kogi Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ajayi Okasami, said he had only heard about the incident.

“I am yet to confirm from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Oguma,” he said.

Three parties — Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) — had on Friday announced their withdrawal from the elections.

(NAN)