Fire has destroyed the Gwadabawa Local Government Area, office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Sokoto State.
Sam Olumekun, the commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, signed a statement on Friday that included this information.
The statement claims that Hauwa Kangiwa, the Administrative Secretary in charge of the State office, reported the fire.
The statement revealed that the “fire started in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. The entire building was damaged.
“Items destroyed include furniture and fixtures as well as movable electoral facilities, among them are 558 ballot boxes, 186 voting enclosures, 186 election bags, and various Registration Area Centre materials such as 12 large water tanks (1,000 litres), 400 sleeping mats and 300 plastic buckets.”
The state office’s preliminary investigations indicated that the incident may have been caused by an unexpected spike in the public power supply.
However, “the actual cause of the fire outbreak is being investigated by the security and safety agencies which have deployed their personnel to the facility.
“No injuries or fatalities were recorded,” the statement added.
Following the tragedy, INEC declared that it would locate a temporary site in the local government area to avoid any disruptions to its operations.
