Fire destroys election materials eve of council poll

Less than 12 hours to the beginning of voting in the council elections in the central Nigerian state of Kogi, fire has gutted the Bassa Local Government office of the State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC).

The incident happened Friday night, few hours after three opposition parties announced a boycott of the election.

The KOSIEC office was gutted shortly after it took delivery of election materials from Lokoja, the state capital.

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

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

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

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 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.