By EMMANUEL OLONIRUHA

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the fire incident at its Kano Office’ Data Processing Centre (DPC) would not in any way affect its operations.

Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, stated this in a statement issued in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Okoye said that Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, the Kano State Resident Electoral Commissioner, on Tuesday, reported the fire incident at the DPC, located within the premises of the commission’s office, at around 10.15a.m before it was contained by the Federal Fire Service.

He said that while the staff made spirited efforts to put out the fire, using fire extinguishers, they were overwhelmed by it, until the arrival of officers of the Federal Fire Service who quenched the fire.

“The physical items burnt include; industrial printers used for the printing of the voter register, laser jet printers, Dell and blade servers, desk top computers, laptops for training, inverters and other accessories and fittings.

“Fortunately, all the data in the voter register for the state, as well as all other sensitive documents of the state office, are backed up offsite and, therefore, safe; they will be recovered swiftly.

“We assure members of the public that this incident will not in any way affect the operations of the commission,” he said.

Okoye said investigations into the cause of the fire had commenced and measures would be put in place to avert a recurrence.

He expressed appreciation for the concerns of the stakeholders over the incident. (NAN)