An early morning inferno has gutted parts of the Katsina State House of Assembly complex, including offices and legislative common room. Sources said the fire occurred Sunday night and lasted for hours, before it was quelled by firefighters.

According to sources, the fire was caused by an electrical fault in one of the affected offices, which include, that of the Clerk of the Assembly, his deputy and the legislative common room. “The fire started about 6:30p.m.on Sunday, apparently due to high power voltage in one of the affected offices. The firefighters spent almost four hours before the fire was eventually put out late at night. “Items destroyed were electrical appliances, furniture and office documents,” one of the sources said.

Newsmen who tried to gain access to the affected complex yesterday, were turned back by officials of the Assembly. The officials also prevented journalists from taking pictures and recording videos of the incident. One of the officials said they had been directed not to allow anyone to take pictures or video of the affected offices. The incident occured less than a year after parts of the Assembly complex went up in flames on April 21, 2021. During the said incident, furniture, electrical fittings and other appliances, as well as the POP on the chamber’s ceilings were completely burnt. The complex had been undergoing extensive renovation before the second fire incident occurred this week. The House, which is currently on recess, was at the time forced to use an office building outside the Assembly ground for their plenary. Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Tasi’u Maigari, who confirmed the incident yesterday, said the timely intervention of men of the Fire service prevented it from spreading beyond the affected offices.He said a committee would be constituted on Wednesday (today) to investigate circumstances that led to the fire.