Fire Guts Kaduna SIEC Office Ahead of LG Polls
Fire razed the two-storey building of the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) yesterday. This is coming a few weeks before the local government election in the state.
Elections in the 23 local government and 255 wards have been scheduled for May 12.
Witnesses said the fire was noticed around 11: 24 a.m. on top of the building located along Sokoto Road, GRA, Kaduna.
A witness, Ibrahim Musa, told newsmen that the huge flames followed a thick smoke that was noticed from the top floor of the building earlier.
Chairman of the commission, Mrs. Saratu Binta Dikko-Audu, said the fire started around 10:30am and that it affected all the offices on the 2nd floor of the two storey building.
She noted that the offices affected are that of the Chairman, legal and finance departments and conference room.
She added, “no live was lost, and there were no injuries recorded. At the time the fire started, the members of the commission were in an emergency meeting in the chairman’s office.”
Also reacting, an aspirant for the Kaduna Central senatorial seat on the platform of All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Lawa Adamu, popularly known as Mr. LA, described the incident as “unfortunate and a drawback to the efforts of the state government and the APC to build strong democratic institutions”.
Mr. LA, who spoke through an aide, Abdulazeez Suleiman, said it is regrettable that such ugly incident should occur at a time when the state is preparing for election into local government offices.
The Green Party of Nigeria (GPN) on its part commiserated with KAD-SIECOM and the state government, but insisted that, the election must hold as scheduled.
Chairman, GPN in Kaduna, Ahmed Mohammed Zagi, in a statement said his party believes in true and genuine democracy and that they are of the view that local government areas which are the closest to the grassroots deserve to be administered by elected representatives.
“GPN has committed a lot of resources to preparing for the polls and would not hesitate to seek redress in court if the election does not hold as scheduled”, he said.
He further called on the state government and law enforcement agencies to fully investigate the fire incident.
Our correspondent reports that a combined team of security operatives has taken over the premises.