Supreme court fire Incident: Presidential Election Petition Unharmed by Blaze
A fire incident disrupted operations at the Supreme Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday morning, sending occupants into a frenzy for safety.
According to Festus we Akande, Director of Press and Information at the apex court, the blaze was attributed to an electrical fault, which rapidly engulfed the office of one of the judges, resulting in its complete destruction.
This incident marks the latest in a series of fires that have plagued government offices in the heart of Abuja. In May 2023, a fire ravaged portions of the Nigerian Air Force Base along Airport Road.
In February 2022, a similar incident occurred at the Ministry of Finance building. In May 2020, flames engulfed parts of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) building, and a month earlier, the office of the accountant-general of the Federation (AGF) suffered the same fate.
To put the gravity of these incidents in perspective, the Federal Fire Service (FFS) reported that Nigeria incurred losses amounting to approximately N5 trillion due to fire incidents within a four-year span from 2014 to 2018.
Despite the alarming nature of these fires, a recent statement from the Supreme Court’s spokesperson, Festus Akande, has reassured the public that the fire outbreak at the Supreme Court complex in Abuja has no connection with the ongoing presidential election petitions.
This incident, caused by an electrical fault, will not impact the court’s proceedings, especially the presidential election petitions filed by the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). These petitions seek the nullification of the tribunal’s verdict confirming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory.
Akande’s statement provided clarity and assurance that the Supreme Court’s operations remain unaffected by the fire, emphasizing that electrical faults like this can occur anywhere and are unrelated to ongoing legal matters.