U.S. Election: Nigerian Pharmacist Makes History After Winning House Of Reps Seat

A Kwara State indigene, Oye Owolewa, has become the first Nigerian American to be elected into the U.S. House of Representatives.

Owolewa was elected to represent the District of Columbia in the U.S. Congress under the Democratic party.

The congressman-elect won the seat after scoring 164,026 votes (81.59%) to defeat his closest rival and Green Party’s Joyce Robinson-Paul who came second with 18,600 (9.25) votes.

An excited Omolewa took to his Instagram page to thank his friends, supporters and District of Columbia residents for voting for him.

He said, “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 yall.”

Born and raised in Nigeria, Omolewa holds a doctorate of pharmacy degree from the Northeastern University, Boston.

He had won the Democratic primary election to contest for the seat on June 2, 2020, scoring 95.8% of the total votes.

Checks on his campaign website showed that Omolewa had after completing his degree involved himself in community development activities in the District of Columbia, volunteering in public schools and engaging students through hands-on science experiments.

He was a commissioner in Southeast DC, where he served as the medium between the community and the local government.

Omolewa had promised that if elected, he would use his office to advance his fight for equality and help DC. attain statehood.

“Despite living in a U.S territory, DC residents still pay federal income tax. DC also depends on Congress to pass its laws and emergency bills, unlike other states. Oye is fighting to change that,” reads a statement on his campaign website.

In a related development, a Nigerian woman, Esther Agbaje, has won election into the Minnesota House of Representatives under the Democratic party.

Agbaje, 35, won by a landslide, polling 17,396 votes (74.7%). Her closest rival, Alan Shilepsky of the Republican Party, polled 4,128 votes (17.7%)

She holds a degree in political science from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Harvard University.