A FEW hours before the governorship election in Kogi state, most hotels in the state’s capital, Lokoja, have been fully booked.
A visit to some of the hotels in the city on Thursday, November 9, showed that there were no vacant rooms to give out.
Facilities visited include Idrianana Hotel on Idrinana Close, Lokongoma Phase II, Lokoja, Suitoria Hotel, Zone 8 Road, beside New Stadium, Twins Palace Hotel, Hon. Yusus Avenue and Lily Grand Hotel, Lokogoma Phase 2.
The ICIR reporter saw officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) discussing the challenges of getting hotel rooms at the INEC office
Apart from INEC staff who might have been deployed to conduct and monitor the election in the state capital, other major stakeholders for the election that need lodging are journalists and election observers.
Some hotel workers interviewed blamed politicians for the challenge. They claimed that politicians paid for many of the hotels’ rooms.
Also, at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in the state capital, much of the discussion was on the difficulty of security rooms to lodge in hotels.
A commercial motorcyclist, Monday Ubah, who took the reporter around the town, said getting hotel rooms in Lokoja and other major towns in the state had been difficult since Monday, November 6.
He claimed that politicians had paid for the rooms.
Other issues
Apart from the difficulty in getting a hotel room in Lokoja, security concerns are another major issue in the state.
Some commercial motorcycle operators interviewed raised concerns over their safety. As of 9 p.m. on Thursday, some of the motorcyclists whom people approached for a ride declined outrightly or refused specific locations due to security issues.
The election in Kogi state is part of off-cycle polls to be conducted in three states on Saturday, November 11. Other states where the election will take place are Imo and Bayelsa.
The tenure of the current governor of Imo state expires on January 14, 2024, while the governors of Kogi and Bayelsa states expire on January 26, 2024, and February 13 of the same year.
The ICIR reported the top candidates competing for the governorship seats in the three states.
The ICIR, using data in this report, highlighted parties’ chances in the three states.
A reporter with the ICIR
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