Iyiola Oni(Phd) 5.8. The Importance of Transport Unions in Securing Elections Transport unions are very important in securing elections for the following reasons: a. Politicians have continued to seek the support of the road transporters while seeking to be elected into political offices due to their large sizes and diversity. b. Because many of the transport union members have close ties with the people at the grassroots level, politicians often use them to influence the people at that level in order to achieve their political aims. 5.9 Contributions of Transport Unions in Electoral Procedures As transporters, their main area of contribution will be in providing easy mobility for effective and efficient electoral process. Their aid can be applied in the following electoral procedure: a. Aid with Election Materials i. Logistics: This provides operational and infrastructural linkages for different routes so as to create an ideal situation where modal choice can be made, reducing the window of opportunity for crime perpetrators. ii. Physical Distribution Management(PDM)/Distribution Process: Through this, the process of material distribution is made clear(modal split) i.e. sharing the total number of trips by different means of travel, which if well done, will reduce traffic congestion, rowdiness on some particular routes. 90 The Role of Transport Unions in Election Security b. Aid with Election Personnel i Accessibility/Connectivity: With good knowledge and understanding of the terrains, transport unions would reduce the pressure on security agencies through the knowledge of accessible routes in the environment. ii. Safety: Transport unions can provide safe and efficient transportation for election personnel to locations with complex transport networks. They can also advice on the type and characteristics of vehicles to be used. c. Aid with Election Locations i Mapping: The availability of detailed maps of places where transport unions operate would help security stakeholders to have better understanding of the terrains and also enhance their ability to make informed decision in security planning. ii Multimodalism: The application of multimodalism (especially air transport) to access remote locations with difficult terrains would aid in improving electoral security and integrity. It would ease the handling and distribution of voting materials and provide a safe, reliable and cost effective transportation of voting personnel to election locations. The use of road, rail, water and air complementarily will promote a safe and secured election. iii Availability of Fuel: Unions such as NUPENG and PENGASSAN should ensure that fuel is available during election periods to ease the mobility of electoral personnel and voters to polling centres. 91