The Minister of state for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba has confirmed that no official records were destroyed in the fire that gutted the office of the Accountant General and several others at the Treasury House Abuja on Wednesday.
A fire had engulfed the third floor of the Treasury building engulfing the offices located on upper floors of the building as well.
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Clem Agba said the fire was caused by a spark from an office air conditioner and was put out within 35 minutes by 25 fire trucks.
“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 are fully intact. There is no destruction, so we haven’t lost any record,” he said.
He said further that the office of the Accountant General operated digitally and every document was backed up electronically in a remote location.
He said the building has been shut down as it became clear that most of the air conditioners has become faulty. He added that an investigation of the incident has already commenced.
“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 concluded by revealing that only the department where capital funds are released to MDAs was affected.
The position of the minister for state was equally Confirmed by the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.
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. He said
He equally affirmed that an investigation was ongoing to determine if the incident was a result of sabotage or an accident.
He also spoke concerning worries that the Treasury House did not have an effective fire fighting department.
He said the lapse had been noticed which is why a fire- fighting sub- station is part of the plans in the ongoing renovation of the building.