'Lai Olurode security personnel without any justification for these acts. There is no doubt that in these two instances, incumbency power by executive office holders was at play. But given the commendations by international observers' submissions on the conduct of security agents in the 2011 general elections, all hopes are not lost. 4 This silver lining 5 notwithstanding, there remains evident challenges that can only be glossed over at the peril of electoral fidelity and credibility. Though, the challenges of deployment have been substantially overcome, those relating to attitudinal issues and mindset on the part of security agents and how to make those on the fringes of election stakeholders' community accept the emerging security template are pertinent. The contributions of road transport workers and youths to election insecurity cannot be said to be insignificant. 4 See comments by Commonwealth observers group in their interim report on the National Assembly and the Presidential Elections which partly go as follows:”The April 2011 elections marked a genuine celebration of democracy in Africa's most populous country and a key member of the Commonwealth. Previously held notions that Nigeria can only hold flawed elections are now being discarded and this country can now shake off that stigma and redeem its image”See p. 3 of the interim statement; see also p. 12 of INEC's synopsis of reports by domestic and international observers groups, Research and Documentation Department, The Electoral Institute(TEI), INEC, January 2012. Also a related congratulatory message to the then President-elect Goodluck Jonathan by President Barak Obama of the United States of America upon the conclusion of the elections was a watershed in the history of Nigeria's elections. 5 See Olurode,'Lai(2013).'Election security in Nigeria: Is there a silver lining?' Olurode,'Lai(ed).)'Election security in Nigeria': Matters arising. Abuja: INEC and FES, pp. 1-18. 48 Understanding a'Power Broker': The Road Transport Workers Unions in the Context of Election Security These groups, unknown to many, are among the strongest allies of the political class during elections. It can be theorized that very few politicians can ascend or sustain political power without their patronage. They are not only hired to provoke crisis, they are also believed to be experts in embarrassing and disgracing political foes at public gatherings. Their services could also be sought for sundry purposes. The management of these marginal stakeholders in the pre-election, election and in the post-election phases of the electoral cycle can indeed be precarious. It is now high time that these groups, among others, were net in. In understanding the role of transport workers in the electoral process, I wish to rely on the theory of a power broker. Transport workers unions are a power broker of a sort. They wield influence and can theoretically decide who has political power. Some of their features previously enumerated predispose them to wielding influence. Power brokers are believed to wield tremendous influence that may be the determinant of who will access political power. In the second section of this chapter, I outlined those stakeholders that may be regarded as being on the fringes and a particular one whose cooperation is germane to the security of the electoral process. In the third section, I presented some core objectives of the paper and methodological challenges while in the fourth section, some tentative findings of the research work are outlined. The fifth section is the conclusion. 3.2 Who are the Stakeholders on the Fringes of Election Security? Following the 2010 first ever workshop on challenges of election security in Nigeria, the Commission took the decision to set up the security committee. Those that made the membership list were 49