The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says that sensitive electoral materials including ballot boxes, voting cubicles and power generating sets were destroyed after an attack on its Izzi Local Government Area (LGA) office in Ebonyi by suspected political thugs.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Festus Okoye, the INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, in Abuja.
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Okoye said that the state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs Onyeka Pauline Ugochi reported that the office was set ablaze on Sunday, November 27, 2022, by some unidentified attackers.
He said that the incident occurred around 10 am.
“Although no casualties resulted from the attack, the main building and all the movable and immovable items inside it were destroyed.
“These include 340 ballot boxes, 130 voting cubicles, 14 electric power generators, large water storage tanks, assorted office furniture and fixtures and yet-to-be-determined quantities of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs),” he said.
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Okoye said that the attention of the police and other security agencies has been drawn to the incident and the investigation commenced.
“Sadly, this is the third attack on our LGA office in less than three weeks following similar attacks on our offices in Ogun and Osun on November 10, 2022,” Okoye said.