In the United States of America’s Tuesday night state elections in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, no fewer than eight Nigerian-Americans were elected into legislative seats.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, also confirmed this on Twitter.
“These Nigerian Americans won their elections in Georgia last night. A hearty congrats to them all #ProudlyNigerian.
“Congratulations to Segun Adeyina, Gabe Okoye, Solomon Adesanya, Tish Naghise, Phil Olaleye, Carol Kazeem, Oye Owolewa and Esther Agbaje,” she tweeted.
On Tuesday, November 8, 2022, the general election for the US state of Georgia was held, with runoffs to be held later for any contests that had not yet been decided by a majority vote.
Elections were held for every position in the executive and legislative branches of government in Georgia, as well as for one position on the Georgia Public Service Commission, one seat in the US Senate, and every position in the US House of Representatives.
Democratic Party candidates Segun Adeyina, Gabe Okoye, Solomon Adesanya, Tish Naghise, and Phil Olaleye ran for Georgia State Representatives.
Esther Agbaje ran for state representative in Minnesota, and Carol Kazeem, a Democratic party member, ran for state representative in Pennsylvania.
Adeoye “Oye” Owolewa is a Democratic Party official, a Nigerian-American politician, and a pharmacist.
He was chosen in November 2020 to serve as the District of Columbia’s shadow representative in the US House of Representatives. Owolewa is responsible with advocating for the statehood of Washington, D.C.; the unpaid office was established by D.C. voters in 1982 but was never ratified by Congress.
Owolewa is not a member of Congress, despite being incorrectly identified in Nigerian media as the first Nigerian-American elected to the U.S. Congress.