Ahead of today’s September 19, 2020 election in Edo, hotels in the state especially in Benin, the state capital had their accommodation all booked up. Operators of the hotels visited said that the high volume of guests was not unconnected with today’s governorship election in the state.
Some of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that most of the reservations were done in groups either by organisations or individuals, adding that many of the reservations were also made many weeks back.
Some newsmen accredited to cover the elections, who arrived Benin since Wednesday, it was observed, encountered difficulties securing affordable hotel accommodation as they failed to make reservations ahead of time.
Some of the media practitioners seen milling around the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Press centre on Reservation Road, however, strategised on the best way to conduct coverage of the Saturday election.
A hotelier, Blessing Uwe, who runs a hotel on Airport road, said that the last time the hotel had full capacity was in December 2019.
Said she: “Many of our guests have booked ahead of time and we had many coming since Wednesday who couldn’t find space”.
Media men and election Observers were seen expressing worry over the situation as they also struggled to sort out accreditation at INEC office on Sapele Road.
