Ondo guber: We'll conduct poll despite massive fire outbreak, says INEC

- INEC has reacted to the fire outbreak that destroyed 5,141 card readers in Akure, Ondo state capital

- The electoral commission on Thursday, September 10, said nothing will stop it from conducting the Ondo governorship poll

- INEC's national commissioner, Festus Okoye, revealed that the agency will use smart card readers from other states in the election

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Just hours after a fire outbreak destroyed not less than 5,141 Smart Card Readers in its office in Akure, Ondo state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has put forward its reaction to the tragic development.

Giving his first speech after the inferno, INEC national commissioner, Barrister Festus Okoye, who witnessed the fire, on Thursday, September 10, said that the commission will investigate the cause of the disaster.

Okoye said the development will not deter the commission from conducting the governorship election in the state.

He disclosed that card readers from other states which are not conducting polls any time soon will be used for the Ondo gubernatorial election.

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The INEC commissioner stated: “This is just one state election. What we are going to do is to mop up smart card readers from other states and use them for the conduct of the election while investigating what happened.

“The cost of 5,141 smart card readers is so much, but we are not going to dwell on that now. What we are going to dwell on is to mop up smart card readers from other states that are not conducting elections and use them to conduct Ondo governorship election."

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that less than four weeks to the conduct of the Ondo state governorship election, the office of INEC in Akure was gutted by fire.

INEC said through a statement on its Twitter page that the fire broke out on the evening of Thursday, September 10, at its Ondo state head office in Akure.

The statement indicated that the inferno, which gutted the container housing Smart Card Readers, started around 7.30pm, adding that men of the Fire Service were containing the fire.

Okoye, who is in the state in connection with preparations for the governorship election scheduled for October 10, rushed to the office at about 8pm.

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Source: Legit.ng