By Uche Mbah
There has been conflicting reports on the cause of the fire that gutted the Independent national Electoral Commission, INEC, office in Imo state, with some saying it is caused by bush fire that sprang from behind the building that spread into the building, while others insists it was caused by thugs who set fire on the building. The later sources do not have answer as to the reason for the alleged arson, or who they are working for.
Recall that in the early hours of Monday, 3rd February 2020,one week after the supplementary elections in Imo state, INEC office was gutted by fire, destroying all electoral materials lodged in the building.
No casualties, however, were recorded.
The police has launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, though their preliminary position seem to support the Bush fire theory.
INEC has been at the crossfire between the two major political parties, particularly as it involves the recent Supreme Court rulings on the governorship of Imo state. The Peoples democratic party, PDP candidate, Emeka Ihedioha has gone back to the Supreme court to ask it to revisit what he called a miscarriage of Justice. INEC has said they have accepted the Supreme court ruling even though they do not agree with it.It is believed that most of the destroyed documents may have their duplicate at the Abuja headquarters.
The conflicting reports is sending signals indicating that there may have been a political connotations to the fire incident.
