Eze Onyekpere Esq financing. Even the prosecution of ordinary electoral offenders, who numbered in their thousands in the 2011 elections, has been unduly delayed or may never see the light of the day. Though, a few convictions had been recorded, this is a mere tip of the iceberg. The internal conduct of political parties in their nominations and primaries will also likely impact on the quantum of finances needed to run electoral security. Although, nominations and primaries are generally considered the internal affairs of political parties, they are taken very seriously by party and non­party members to the extent that nominations in the ruling party are more or less regarded as anointing to go forward to pick a seat. It is therefore important, that rules and regulations for internal democracy are enhanced and the process of candidate selection seen to be fair. INEC's role in political party primaries needs to be made more explicit and conflict in laws in this regard should be resolved. Also, when pacts or agreements are entered into between various groups of Nigerians on basic issues like rotation of offices, they should be respected so as to curtail likely outbursts and a backlash from communities that feel cheated in the equation and permutations. 6.3. At the Election What are required of security agencies during election? At the election, they are to: l Provide security at the polling stations and collation centers to ensure that polling, counting of ballots, 92 ELECTION SECURITY IN NIGERIA: MATTERS ARISING Election Security Finance collation and declaration of results are conducted without any disturbance. l Take all necessary measures to prevent violence or any activity that would threaten to disrupt the elections; l Secure the perimeters of polling stations and collation centers; l Comply with any lawful directive issued by or under the authority of INEC; l Ensure the safety and security of all election materials by escorting and guarding the materials, as appropriate; l Protect election officials at the polling stations and collation centers; l Arrest on the instruction of the Presiding Officer or other INEC officials any person(s) causing any disturbance or preventing the smooth conduct of proceedings at the polling stations and collation centers; l At the polling station, inform the Presiding Officer if they believe that any voter is under age(of below 18 years) or has committed an offence of impersonation. l Accompany the Presiding Officer to deliver the election results, ballot boxes and other election materials safely to the ward collation centre. Pre-election preparations will impact on the Election Day activities because they form the bedrock for Election Day, indeed the infrastructure on which election day activities rest. Thus, there is an inextricable link between pre-election and the election period. Security agencies are also involved in issues around transportation and logistics of materials either on Election Day or pre-election. ELECTION SECURITY IN NIGERIA: MATTERS ARISING 93