By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
Two Nigerian-Americans, Oye Owolewa and Esther Agbaje, Americans with Nigerian immigrant parents have won seats in the just concluded US elections.
Esther Agbaje won a House of Representatives seat in Minnesota, while Owolewa was declared winner of the shadow election in the District of Columbia (DC).
During elections, voters of the District of Columbia elect a shadow representative who is recognised as equivalent to US representatives by the District of Columbia, but the US government does not recognise the individual as an actual member of the house of representatives.
Owolewa scored a total of 164,026 votes, representing 82.84 percent of the total votes cast.
A PhD holder from the Northeastern University, Boston, Owolewa is the first Nigerian-American to be elected to US congress.
The Nigerian-born democrat took to Instagram to express gratitude to his friends, family and D.C. residents, for their support.
“Good morning. Looks like WE DID IT!!! I want to thank everyone, from family and close friends to DC residents. Because of your contributions and sacrifices, I stand before you as America’s first Nigerian American congressman. In this role, I’m going to fight for DC statehood and bring our values to the lawmaking process. While today is day for some celebration, the hard work also follows. Again, thanks so much for everything. I wouldn’t be here without you all,” he wrote.
In the same vein, Agbaje won by a landslide, scoring a total of 17,396 votes, which represents 74.7 percent of the total ballots cast.
Her closest rival, Alan Shilepsky, a nominee for the Republican Party, scored 4,126 votes, which represents 17.7 percent of the total votes cast.
She will represent district 59B in the 134 member house on the democratic farmer Labor Party, an affiliate of the Democratic Party.
Abaje was born in St. Paul, the state capital of Minnesota, to Nigerian immigrant parents.
She attended George Washington University, DC, with a first degree in political science, holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from Harvard University.