No official records were lost to the fire that gutted Nigeria’s Treasury House, the headquarters of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation in Abuja, on Wednesday, Clem Agba, minister of state for budget and national planning, confirmed.
Also, there were no casualties recorded.
The fire, which was caused by a spark from one of the air-conditioners on the 4th floor of the building at about 10am Wednesday, was successfully put out by 25 fire trucks within 35 minutes, Agba told journalists.
The Treasury House is located beside the Federal Capital Territory Police Command in Garki, Abuja.
“We have gone round the rooms and offices where the fire affected, and I am glad to report that our data centre where all our records are kept is fully intact. There is no destruction, so we haven’t lost any record,” Agba said.
The minister said besides, AGF office now operates digitally, assuring that though some documents were burnt, there was also a backup centre outside Abuja to enable recovery in the event of any loss.
He said the only damage to the data centre was the exterior which houses the cooling units and that one of the immediate steps taken was to immediately shut down the data centre since the cooling units no longer cooled optimally.
Agba noted that the unit from where MDAs’ capital releases are made was affected, adding that a full-scale professional investigation would be instituted.
“As a government, I want to assure you that our records are intact. A few documents are burnt, we haven’t started recovery to check what actually burnt, but all our financial transactions are intact. We would be doing full-scale investigation using the right professionals to determine exactly what happened,” he said.
Ahmed Idris, accountant general of the federation, who also spoke to journalists, also confirmed that no document was lost and there were no casualties.
“For emphasis, our data centre is intact, no harm in any way except for the cooling system which we are now working hard to put back to operation. We are also glad there is no casualty,” Idris said.
The AGF, however did not immediately rule out a possibility of sabotage, but also assured of a thorough investigation.
Speaking to concerns that a critical office like the Treasury House does not have a robust fire service architecture, he said the plan to put up such a structure was part of the ongoing rehabilitation. He said a sub-station for fire-fighting was already being put up, adding that the building is adequately insured.
Earlier in a statement announcing that the fire had been put out, Ugo Huan, spokesperson of the Federal Fire Service, said investigations would commence immediately on the cause of the fire.
“Fire had engulfed the office of the AGF Wednesday morning. No casualty was reported,” Huan said in the statement.
ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja
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