The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says a flood has damaged its office in Benin City, Edo.

“The flood damaged a section of the building. It destroyed voters registration machines and other items,” Sam Olumekun, national commissioner and chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, said in a statement on Saturday.

He said that the INEC resident electoral commissioner for Edo, Anugbum Onuoha, reported that Edo was completely flooded following torrential rainfall on Friday.

According to Mr Olumekun, the preliminary assessment shows that the heavy downpour damaged a section of the building while movable and immovable items were submerged.

“Property submerged included vehicles parked at the premises as well as office furniture and equipment,” he said.

He added that some voter enrollment machines already configured for the forthcoming Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the state were affected.

“The commission is delivering additional machines from the neighbouring states to make up for the shortfall. We are determined to ensure that the CVR will commence as scheduled on Monday, May 27, in all 192 wards across Edo.

“However, in view of the emergency situation, the state headquarters will not serve as a registration centre as planned. Instead, the exercise will now take place in our Ikpoba Okha local government area office located at 16 Customs Road, off Benin/Auchi Road, Benin City,” he said.

MrOlumekun said the attention of security agencies and emergency services had been drawn to the incident.

(NAN)