Two Americans with Nigerian descent, Oye Owolewa and Esther Agbaje, have emerged victorious in the US elections.
According to report, that Agbaje won a house of reps seat in Minnesota, while Owolewa was declared winner of the shadow election in the District of Columbia (DC).
In 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, which represents 82.84% 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.
Agbaje
On her part, Agbaje won by a landslide, scoring a total of 17,396 votes, which represents 74.7% of the total ballots cast.
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.
She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the university of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from Harvard university.