The House of Representative candidate All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), in the April general elections in Lagos State, Mr. Folorunso Aremu Eddo is in high spirits. He is aspiring to represent Amuwo Odofin federal constituency, to enable him address the needs of the people. Eddo is from Edo State, but was born in Akure, Ondo State 50 years ago. He has lived in Lagos since childhood and says the only thing that matters to him is politics. "I have always known, even as a child that I will end up in politics. One thing about my nature is that I have always loved to look out for the little guys; I have always been involved in community development, other people’s progress has always been something that concerns me," he said.

The Economics graduate from the University of District of Colombia in Washington DC, United States says he has a lot to offer to the people. He said as an entrepreneur and manager of men, he has been overseeing his business empire spread across transportation, contracting and industrial services. Eddo was initially a contractor for office building, then he went into cleaning business, and finally to transportation where he was in charge of transportation logistics in four Nigerian airports.

Eddo provided employment for at least 200 people and says he has always been involved in community work that touches the lives of the grassroots people. "When I look around now, I think I have ideas that can help us a little bit because of my experience. That’s one of the main reasons I went into politics," he said.

He said Lagos has to give everybody equal opportunity to buttress the ‘One Nigeria’ cliché. "I feel if you are a Nigerian and you reside in any state in Nigeria, you are fully a citizenship of that place; you should not be deprived of anything," he said.

Eddo said before pitching his tent with APGA, he had tested the waters in People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but was denied the ticket because he did not have the Awori blood in him. "Nobody told me that at the beginning until the last minute. To me, I believe very strongly in what I am doing, so ordinarily not having somebody’s (indegene) blood would not stop what I am doing," he said.

He said that APGA should be strong in Lagos and going forward, he expects the party to win lots of seats in Lagos. "I believe APGA candidates will win in the House of Assembly as well as the House of Representatives because of the caliber of people that the party has been fielding in the state," he said.

Eddo said he has done a lot of ground work that will give him victory. "I have done a lot, right now what I do is that I am going around speaking to different groups, different organizations about my plan for the people of Amuwo Odofin. I may not be able to cover everything, but I have been talking to a lot of people. But then, a week before the election, I will do rally that will push my campaigns closer to the public. But right now, I am speaking to groups which I think is the most essential way of doing it," he said.

The aspirant said his name is on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) list and insisted that one of his priorities will be ensuring that everybody living in Amuwo Odofin gets equal treatment.

Eddo said he will improve the educational standard in Amuwo Odofin, by liaising with non-governmental organsisations (NGOs) outside the country, to secure funds needed to develop key educational infrastructure.

He said the bogus allowance allegedly being collected by House of Representatives members may be constituency allowance. "I think maybe that is what is reflecting in their pay because a lot of our politicians take constituency allowance as another increase in their salaries. Constituency allowance is something one is supposed to use in his constituency. If one is given N2 million to N3 million a month for his or her constituency, such a person should have a way to prove what the money was used for. I think the government has not come up with a way of tracking the way they are using the money," he said.

He said the INEC deserves 80 per cent mark in the way and manner it handled the recently held voter registration exercise because it was doing it for the first time. "There are going to be hitches here and there and when somebody is doing something with good intention, I think it is good to encourage them because I really believe they are doing it with good intension. Whatever mistakes they have made, we should not try to come down too hard on them," he said.

Comparing Nigerian politics with that of the United States, Eddo said he gives a lot of credit to Nigeria because the US has been doing politics for over 200 years. "Nigeria is very new at this, we started it in 1999 and we have accomplished a lot within this space of time. When you are sitting down in a car you don’t really know you are going fast until you look outside. I give credit to Nigeria, we may stumble but we are doing fine," he said.

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