The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nwaorubi, Mbaitoli Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo State, South-East Nigeria, has been gutted by fire.

Confirming the incident, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo State, Gabriel Ada, quoted an eyewitness as saying that the fire started at about 1:30 a.m., burning the whole building down including all the sensitive and insensitive materials in the building.

He also quoted some of the INEC staff present during the incident as saying that the fire was caused by a power generating set.

Ada, however, said the fire did not affect all the card readers in the area as they were kept in a safe place before the incident.

He lamented that the fire incident might cause a little setback in the area with regard to Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections.

The REC, however, assured that the commission would ensure that everything is put in place in order to ensure elections hold in the area on Saturday.

The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem, in a telephone conversation with Channels Television correspondent, said some arrests have been made concerning the incident and that investigations are ongoing.

Mbaitoli Local Government Area is the home of the Deputy Governor of the state, Prince Eze Madumere, and is said to have the largest INEC wards (34 in all) in the state.

•Sourced from a Channels TV report. Photo shows one of the burnt rooms.