By Ayo Yusuf
As fears spread that the fire that gutted a wing of the Supreme Court complex at the Three Arms Zone Abuja, Monday morning, may have destroyed materials relevant to the case brought by parties appealing the recent judgment of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, the apex court has assured that nothing of the sort occurred.
The Public Relations Officer for the court, Festus Akande, today disclosed that the fire incident had no connection with, and will have no effect on the petitions brought by former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and his Labour Party counterpart, Mr Peter Obi.
Fire started at one wing of the Supreme Court around 7.00am today and caused panic among staff of the court who had to scamper to safety.
Although no lives were lost during the inferno, rumours spread that sensitive documents, especially those pertaining to the petitions brought by Alhaji Abubakar and Mr. Obi may have been destroyed in the fire.
A source confirmed that three offices, including that of Justice Mohammed Saulawa, were torched before it was eventually put off.
However, speaking during an interview on Arise TV , Mr Akande stated that the fire outbreak won’t affect anything in the court.
He said: “As a matter of fact, there’s no single connection, and it won’t affect anything in the court.
“This incident occurred in a chamber equipped with a computer and other equipment, as well as a functional library used by any justice occupying such a chamber.
“The only thing that was affected were the books and computer equipment in the chamber. Even the books are replaceable.
“Also, it has nothing to do with it because it was from an electrical fault, which could happen anywhere, and there are things that happen daily.”
He denied any insinuations that the fire may have been set by people wanting to derail some cases before the apex court.
