THE Federal Ministry of Finance has revealed that the early morning fire at its headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday was caused by a battery explosion.
The head of media in the ministry Olajide Osundun disclosed this to journalists in Abuja.
Osundun also disclosed that although information about the fire outback was sent out to the Federal Fire Service, the fire was brought under control before firefighters arrived.
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“The fire outbreak emanated from an exploded battery which then affected the other batteries, about 10 to 16 batteries were affected.
“Other than that room, the battery compartment at the basement of the ministry, the fire did not affect any other part of the ministry,” he said.
Spokesperson of the Federal Fire Service Abraham Paul confirmed the incident.
The fire outbreak at the headquarters of the ministry of finance on Wednesday is the latest incident in government offices in Abuja.
History of infernos on Federal Government buildings in Abuja
On May 20, 2020, there was a fire incident at Abuja’s NIPOST headquarters. On April 17 that year, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in the nation’s capital was in flame.
On April 15, 2020, a fire gutted the Corporate Affairs Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
The incident occurred days after the office of the Accountant General of the Federation went into flame.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Clem Agba said the inferno did not affect the government’s documents.
He said the government already had all its information, part of which the fire burnt, online, and it could access it anywhere.
But the main opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), expressed shock with the incident and called for a thorough investigation into the disaster.
In a statement through its then National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, the party had said the inferno occurred when the PDP was making repeated calls for a forensic audit into “the hazy” oil subsidy regime.
The party said the call was in addition to demands for an investigation into allegations of fraud and diversion of COVID-19 intervention funds and the social investments programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari government since 2015.
“Already, the National Assembly, riding on the gale of demands by Nigerians and championed by the PDP, has raised queries on spendings in respect of social incentives programme.”
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance