Festus Okoye, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the information and voter education committee, confirmed the incident.

Okoye said in a statement released on Monday that the attack on its Imo headquarters destroyed no critical election materials.

Gunmen earlier attacked the INEC headquarters in Owerri, the Imo state capital.

However, the gunmen were ambushed by police officers stationed at the office, resulting in the deaths of three of the gunmen.

Okoye stated that the INEC resident commissioner, Sylvia Uchenna Agu, reported the attack on the head office around 3 a.m.

According to Okoye, although the attack affected the part of the building occupied by the election and party monitoring (EPM) department, no critical election material was destroyed.

The statement reads, “The response of the security and emergency services (the Fire Service) curtailed further damage to the building and other assets of the Commission. No critical election materials were destroyed. There were also no casualties involving staff of the Commission.

“This is the third attack on the Commission’s facilities in Imo State in less than two weeks following the earlier attacks on our Orlu LGA office on Thursday 1st December 2022 and Oru West LGA office on Sunday 4th December 2022.

“Our Imo State Headquarters is located in the centre of Owerri, the State capital, between a court and the State secretariat. This is therefore yet another systematic attack targeted at the Commission’s assets across the country, more so on the day that the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) commences nationwide ahead of the 2023 General Election.”