The Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM) head office was on Saturday morning gutted by fire less than a month to the local government elections in the state.

The cause of the fire could not be ascertained as at the time our Correspondent visited the scene.

However, the commission’s chairman, Dr. (Mrs) Saratu Binta Dikko-Audu who briefed the press later in the afternoon confirmed that the fire started around 10:30am, saying that, it affected all the offices on the 2nd floor of the two storey building.

According to her, “the offices affected are that of the Chairman, legal and finance departments and conference room.”

“No life 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.

“The ground floor, 1st floor and stores were not affected by the fire. The losses incurred will take a few days to determine.

“The fire service and Police are investigating the immediate and remote causes of the fire,” The chairman added.

She, however, declined to provide answers to questions by newsmen.

Meanwhile, mixed reactions have continued to trail the root cause of the fire outbreak.

Reacting, a front-runner for the Kaduna Central senatorial seat under the platform of All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Lawal 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.

However, the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN) has commiserated with the commission and the state government over the unfortunate fire incidence but insisted that the election must hold as scheduled.

Chairman, GPN in Kaduna, Ahmed Mohammed Zagi in a statement said, his party believed in true and genuine democracy and of the view that the local government areas which are the closest to the grassroots deserve to be administered by elected representatives at the council and ward levels.

“GPN has committed a lot of resources in preparing for the poll and would not hesitate to seek redress in a court of law if the poll fails to hold as scheduled.

“We, therefore, insist that the local council poll will still hold as scheduled, while calling on the state government and law enforcement agencies to fully investigate the incidences surrounding the fire outbreak to erase suspicions of sabotage from those who may not want the polls to hold”, he added.

Sourced from The Nation (excluding headline)

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