'Lai Olurode Whatever bargain that has to be struck must not be on individual basis but one that will involve the union leaders in order to avert disappointment. With spirited attempts to firm up a register of members, it is expected that transport workers will become more responsive to INEC's overtures. Hoodlums are being chased out of most motor parks in the country. At the Ondo garage in Akure, for example, drinking of alcohol is forbidden and conducts likely to cause a breach of peace are frowned at. The union's constitution also forbids unruly behaviour. Touts are gradually being outlawed in most garages. Apart from intra union rivalry and squabbles, conflict with the RTEAN is on the decline. One factor that had contributed in a significant sense to this reduction of conflict is the recognition which NURTW enjoys with the Ministry of Labour. RTEAN does not enjoy such but, it has links with high level government officials at the federal and state levels. RTEAN also has its own factional tendency. The perception by the public of the rank and file of members of NURTW as miscreants, indeed as'yan tasha'(Hausa),'agbero', 'omota',(Yoruba),'ocho passenger','agboro'(Igbo) or indeed as militants, hoodlums, social misfits, ruffians and in a nutshell ones lacking in reputation may have been long held but, the truth is that these are rarely based on any study but more on myths and occasional engagements with some of them. Of course, those who have had their lost goods returned or had drawn benefits from professional practices of members would not cheaply subscribe to any of these negative perceptions. In the conclusion to this research, we justify why it is helpful for us as election managers to unmask the profile of transport workers as stakeholders in election security as we simultaneously adumbrate why partnership with transport workers may add value to election security and logistics. The scope 62 Understanding a'Power Broker': The Road Transport Workers Unions in the Context of Election Security for extending our voter education activities to this group seems to offer potentials for mitigating election related violence which often emanate from the activities of transport workers. Theoretically, the constitution of the union offers a panacea to insulating members from election related conflict. This expectation is, however, not in conflict with the theory of power brokers. 3.4 Conclusion Our major objective in this workshop was exploratory, a pioneering effort of a sort to understand the general dynamics and values espoused by transport workers. We also sought to understand the perception of private transport workers' union, on the core values embedded in democratization and in the electoral process, examined ways by which partnering with the transport union can assist in mitigating election related conflict and violence as well as come to terms with the nature of the relationship between the state and NURTW. A complex relationship is what is unfolding in which transport workers are not intimidated by fierce state power as wielded by incumbent powerful office holders. If anything, they [transport workers] seek now to curtail and even resist state coercive powers through the legal[the judiciary] shield and simultaneously, through the union's visible power brokers' role. Given that the union operates a written constitution, respects the views of members in the internal workings of the association and have internal mechanism for resolving conflict and peace building, no doubt should be entertained about an ample opportunity for partnership with INEC. I have had an opportunity to speak with some officials of the union at the state level and I was left with no doubt about their professionalism and competence. Of course, negative perceptions abound about them and what they do, yet, once efforts 63