Eze Onyekpere Esq l Defining the expected outcomes of the identified initiatives in clear measurable terms; and l Linking expected outcomes to their objectives and goals. This is not the usual Medium Term Sector Strategy of the respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government that feeds into the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. The strategy will be developed by experts in election management, security and fiscal governance. The inter-agency security strategy will need to reconcile electoral security with overall national security. It will seek to resolve the poser of how you can use the existing and already paid for security resources to promote electoral security and how electoral security will enhance overall national security in the medium to the long run 5 . The development of a costed strategy is not a task to be done in an election year; it requires pro-active and future planning over the medium term. For instance, now is the right time for the consultations and meetings for the development of the costed strategy towards the 2015 elections. Care should be taken in budgeting to properly align capital and recurrent spending and ensure that the morale and welfare of officers and men who do the security work are adequately taken care of. The human 5 ibid; The Role of Security Forces in the Electoral Process; the Case of Six West African Countries at page 71. 98 ELECTION SECURITY IN NIGERIA: MATTERS ARISING Election Security Finance element is the most important one in any service or production venture and once the human element is not aligned to other factors of service delivery, there is bound to be challenges. The inter-agency strategy comes with many advantages but suffice to mention three. The first advantage is that this form of planning introduces value for money in electoral security spending with its cardinal parameters of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The second advantage is that it provides an opportunity to benchmark performance against planned deliverables and outcomes. It also provides opportunity to plan performance to be at the level of the best in class. The third advantage is that it puts the fiscal authorities on notice long before the demands for releases, cash backings and withdrawals are to be made. It is also important to make it clear to the fiscal authorities that where money is voted for election security and it is not under the direct management of the EMB which makes it a statutory transfer, such monies should be released on time so that planned activities and their sequencing will be followed to the letter. Predictability of funding is important in planning for elections including the security components. In terms of procurement of equipment needed for electoral security, it needs to be done far ahead of the elections. Procurement planning and approvals need to be done on time so that the procurements will be done at the right time, place, and price and meets the need of the agencies. Essentially, section 16 of the Public Procurement Act is relevant here: ELECTION SECURITY IN NIGERIA: MATTERS ARISING 99