Eight Nigerian-Americans Win US Legislative Seats in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota

No fewer than eight politicians of Nigerian-Americans won their legislative seats on Tuesday night during Georgia, Pennsylvania and Minnesota State elections, in the United State of America.

This was also confirmed by the chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa 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.

These Nigerian Americans won their elections in Georgia last night . A hearty congrats to them all #ProudlyNigerian 🕺💃 pic.twitter.com/3w5BClOlmN

— Abike Dabiri-Erewa (@abikedabiri) November 9, 2022

The US state of Georgia general election was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, with runoffs to be held at a later date for those races which are not yet decided by majority vote.

All of Georgia’s executive officers and legislative seats, as well as one seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission, were conducted as well as one of Georgia’s seats in the United States Senate and all of Georgia’s seats in the United States House of Representatives.

Segun Adeyina, Gabe Okoye, Solomon Adesanya, Tish Naghise, and Phil Olaleye were all candidates for Georgia State Representatives under the platform of Democratic Party.

While Carol Kazeem, also a member of Democratic party, was a candidate for Pennsylvania State Representative and Esther Agbaje was a candidate for Minnesota State Representative.

Adeoye “Oye” Owolewa is a Nigerian-American politician, pharmacist, and a member of the Democratic Party.

In November 2020, he was elected as the shadow representative of the United States House of Representatives from the District of Columbia. As a shadow congressperson, Owolewa is tasked with lobbying for D.C. statehood; the unpaid position is authorized by D.C. voters in 1982, but never approved by Congress.

Although mistakenly described in Nigerian media as the first Nigerian-American to be elected to the U.S. Congress, Owolewa is not a member of Congress.