The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC over the week refused to issue press accreditation to selected Journalists, the Commission deemed as online Reporters.
A journalist from different media houses have been asked to come to the INEC office in Sapele Road, Benin City for their final Accreditation to cover the Edo 2020 governorship election billed for today, Saturd day 19th.
But the electoral umpire deliberately chose to discriminate against Online media houses for reasons, it deemed orders from above.
It would be recalled that INEC had in mid August asked Journalists to apply for Accreditations through its online portal as against the previous case of visiting the commission’s office to qeue up for press tags in order to report on election or its other activities.
But the media houses who applied online and got approval emails from the Independent National Electoral Commission confirming their applications were surprised upon getting to INEC office to receive their kits and press tags, hearing that the commission was warned against issuing accreditations to Online journal dot for reasons best known to them.
Our Correspondent in Benin gathered that print, Radio and televion media organizations were swiftly issued with their press tags and working kits, while online media firm, who many believed to be credible and professional were denied accreditations.
Some of these online journalists arrived INEC office on Tuesday and stayed through till Friday night, before they finally got the message loud and clear that INEC was not going to issue them with press tags and kits.
While addressing the journalist, the Head of Department of the INEC Benin office, who bluntly refused to give his name said the order was from Abuja, precisely the INEC Commissioner for Information and Voters Education, Mr Festus Okoye.
“We weer told not to attend to Online media houses by Festus Okoye, our Commissioner in Abuja because the media house willing to cover the election are too many and I believe he to approve the known names among them and they happen to be be popular Newspapers and television stations, he said.
The online journalists who were obviously miffed at the undue discrimination by INEC lamented why INEC would have such mentality in this age and time, when news dissemination have gone digital even before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
A popular online Journalist who came from Lagos to cover the Edo election, Charles Ideho, who was also denied accreditation decried the treatment from INEC.”It is so sad that journalists are being treated this way just to get accreditation from INEC. As simple as that. When they said we should apply online for accreditation, I was happy thinking that the bottleneck is over, but the same INEC brought the bottleneck back. We have been here since Tuesday and I am supposed to be in Edo North to cover the election and its past 4Pm today Friday, when will I get to Auchi? I just have to leave, INEC as a body is not serious.”
Another online Reporter who simply gave his name as Bayo, said ;” We kept filling forms, being asked to go here and there even after we did the online application and got email approving our request. And now they are telling us that they won’t accredit OnLive Mefuin. This is so sad after coming all the way from Lagos to cover the election.”
