As people of Edo State prepare to go to the polls today with preparations at top gear by stakeholders to contribute their quota towards the success of the exercise, surprisingly, many journalists have been denied their rights to official coverage and reportage of the election.
According to our correspondent ,this was because the electoral umpire the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) turned down the demands of journalists, especially the online media denying them all necessary kits needed to do their job.
Most importantly, was that,they even failed to register the on-line journalists for the election exercise, claiming that, they do not have the authorization to do accreditation for on-line media.
The questions on the lips of many however is, why would INEC deny on-line journalists the right to coverage and reportage? Is there anything that the electoral umpire is hiding? Or better still, are they about to act another written script by a constituted Authority? Who is INEC actually working for, the APC or PDP?
As a matter of fact, This claim by INEC is seen by many as a ploy to engage in unfair practice and probably has a hidden agenda to deny Edo people the right to elect their choice candidate or even rob them of their mandate .
As it stands political analysts and election observers are watching to see how the election exercise will be conducted and how iNEC will also be fair enough in giving a level playing ground to all the candidates.
Whether INEC will conduct a free,fair and credible election to the delight of Edo citizens and Nigerians within and beyond the shores of this country remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, as at 8am today, electorate were seen searching for their Names and pictures to do accreditation for the voting exercise.
On the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), its officials arrived early at the polling units and were swift in attending to the demands of the voters.
They also arrived at the centers with all necessary materials needed for the electionwith record of malfunctioning of any equipment.
Law enforcement officers were seen at every area of the state with at least two officers mounting each polling unit.
Party agents with vigour were seen with their tags and readiness to carry out the task while election observers were seen moving round to monitor the exercise.
