9 Nigerians on US ballots Tuesday

 

At least nine Nigerian-Americans are on the ballot in Tuesday’s general elections in the United States.

The candidates, running mostly on the platform of the Democratic Party, are bidding for different offices at the federal, state, and council levels.

Congressional elections are also holding on Tuesday with all the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate up for grabs.

At the federal level, Mr Oye Owolewa, whose father is from Kwara and mother from Oyo, is aiming for a ‘shadow’ (non-voting) seat in the House of Representatives.

Owolewa, a Ph.D holder in Pharmacy from Northeastern University, Boston, is seeking to represent the District of Columbia (DC) under the Democratic Party.

If elected, the 30-year-old, whose agenda includes fighting income inequality in the U.S., would be the first Nigerian congressman in the country’s history.

Also at the federal level, Mr Yomi Faparusi, an Ibadan-born native of Ode-Ekiti in Ekiti State, is vying as an independent candidate to represent the state of Tennessee in the U.S. Senate.

Faparusi holds a doctorate in Medicine from the University of Ibadan, a Ph.D. in Health from Johns Hopkins University, and Juris Doctorate from the Widener University School of Law, Delaware.

In Missouri, a Republican-controlled state, Mr Yinka Faleti from Lagos is the Democratic Party flagbearer in the election for the office of Secretary of State.

Faleti was in the U.S. Army as an active-duty officer from 1998 to 2004. He served in Kuwait, first under Operation Desert Spring and later as part Operation Enduring Freedom.

The 44-year-old father of four holds a Bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy, West Point, and a Juris Doctorate from the Washington University School of Law.

Also at the state level, Mr Paul Akinjo from Ondo State is running for election to the California State Assembly under the Democratic Party to represent District 12.

Akinjo once served as Vice Mayor of Lathrop, California, and in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1982 to 1989. His priorities include housing, immigration and transportation.

In Delaware, a small Mid-Atlantic U.S. State where Democratic nominee hails from, Adewunmi Kuforiji is aspiring to represent District 34 in the state House of Representatives.

Ms Esther Agbaje is seeking to represent District 59B in the Minnesota House of Representatives on the platform of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, an affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party.

The 35-year-old daughter of an Episcopal priest and a librarian, both Nigerian immigrants, defeated longtime state Representative Raymond Dehn in the party’s primary in August.

Agbaje has a law degree from Harvard University, a Master’s from the University of Pennsylvania, and has served in the U.S. Department of State, among others.

Also on the ballot at the council level are April Ademiluyi, Ngozi Akubuike and Benjamin Osemenam.