No fewer than 15, 000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were burnt when yet to be identified hoodlums, who broke into the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Isiala-Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State and set it ablaze. Superintendent of Police (SP) Geoffrey Ogbonna, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abia command who confirmed the burning down of the office, said the fire occurred on Saturday night.
Ogbonna also said information available to the police showed that the fire started from the toilet and extended to the office, where the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were stored. The police spokesman said that some of the PVCs were already destroyed before the fire was eventually put out on Sunday morning; adding that the number of damaged PVCs had yet to be ascertained. Ogbonna, who spoke from the scene, said that the police had opened an investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Speaking further, INEC Head of Public Affairs in Abia, Bamidele Oyetunji, said that police had taken over the investigation, saying the police were in a better position to find the perpetrators of the dastardly act and that INEC was not suspecting any politician or its member of staff.
Some residents of the area were quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as saying on condition of anonymity that the fire started on Saturday night but was only noticed on Sunday morning. It was further learnt that the number of burnt PVCs might not be less than 15,000, considering the heap of the items.
NAN reported that in 2015, a similar fire razed down the Obingwa LGA INEC office, after a governorship election petition tribunal in Umuhia gave an order for the forensic inspection of the votes for the governorship poll in the area.
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