ABUJA, Nigeria — The Independent National Electoral Commission has said the attack on one of its Permanent Voter Card collection centres in Osun State will not disrupt plans for the August 15 governorship election.

Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Dayo Oketola, gave the assurance on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

Suspected hoodlums on Sunday stormed the PVC collection centre at Oyinlola DC School, Ward 2, Okuku in Odo-Otin Local Government Area. They attacked staff on duty and carted away electoral materials, including some Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices and packs of Permanent Voter Cards.

Oketola said whatever was taken would be replaced. He noted that out of the 4,427 BVAS prepared for the election, 664 units have been set aside as backups.

“There is no way whatever happened can disrupt our plans for the election,” he said. “INEC cannot be distracted. We will conduct a free and fair election in Osun. That incident cannot distract us. The election will go on as planned, and we expect it to be free, fair and credible at the end of the day.”

The Osun State Police Command confirmed the attack and said about 10 armed thugs fired shots into the air before making away with three packs of PVCs. The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, has ordered a full investigation.