Voters Assembly urges probe of INEC fire

Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights and Ethics in Development, Mr. Mashood Erubami

President, Voters Assembly, Mr. Mashood Erubami, has called for an investigation into Monday’s fire that destroyed the Voters Registry Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Erubami said in a telephone interview with our correspondent on  Thursday that the probe should ascertain the cause of the fire and whether it was an insider job or not.

He said, “INEC should set up an administrative enquiry to determine who is/are at fault in escalating the fire, the extent of damage and affirmation that the effect of the fire would not affect the coming elections.

“The fire that engulfed the Voters Registry Department  of INEC  destroying some equipment  was quite unfortunate as nobody expected it to happen.

“Unless and until facts emerge to prove that it was inflicted to protect private interests, we have to take it as some of those calamities that have befallen the country.

“However, the time  within which the fire raged and extent of damage did not show that it had an underlying motive.”

Erubami added, “We have to take the occurrence as it was described by the staff of the INEC and accept the fact that  the extent of the fire was not devastating enough to cause public insinuation of   motives into its occurrence.

“It is a thing of joy that we can hold the management responsible for what they have told Nigerians that the fire outbreak will not have serious effects on elections as no data was affected.

“That the fire affected the Voters Registry Department but without any vital document of the commission consumed cannot make Nigerians to doubt the statement of the Director of Information and communications Technology that their sensitive data are unaffected and operations are intact.

“In fact,  that the fire was not so devastating  cannot cause the insinuation that there is more to it.”

According to him, the harmattan season demands caution on the part of every body, both at home and in the offices, as the 30 minutes within which the fire raged would have been assisted by harmattan.

He also said allegation that security officials did not grant access to the staff members who  rushed to the scene to save the situation needed to be investigated.