By Mayowa Olumuyiwa
The Ondo State Police Command said, on Monday, that last week’s fire incident at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in the state was caused by an electrical surge.
At least 5,000 smart card readers were destroyed by the inferno which razed a container where the card readers were stored at the commission’s office in Akure, the state capital, last Thursday.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bolaji Salami, who disclosed this to journalists at the command headquarters, dismissed the insinuation that the fire was caused by saboteurs.
He said: “Investigation into the incident is out. The fire was caused by a faulty electrical connection and all the smart card readers were burnt. The smart cards were kept in two containers on the premises of INEC and the air conditioners were kept on for 24 hours.
“This will put to rest speculations that the fire was caused by saboteurs. If there are other findings, we will let you know. For now, the major cause is faulty electrical connections.
“This report is final from the fire service. They have the authority to investigate fire incidents in Akure.”
Meanwhile, KaftanPost correspondent in a separate conversation with an official of the Ondo INEC reliably gathered that the Commission is making frantic efforts at ensuring that the inferno does not constitute any hinderance to the electoral process as scheduled.
The respondent however spoke with an assurance that a new store to accommodate new card reader machines that will be made available soon will be facilitated in earnest.
