Oye Owolewa Is the First Nigerian American To Be Elected Into The U.S. Congress

In celebrating diversity and inclusion in the electoral process and decision making, the first Nigerian American, Oye Owolewa has been elected into the United States Congress following the 2020 elections.

Oye Owolewa, the Democratic nominee for Washington DC’s U.S. Representative, broke the news via his Instagram account early on Wednesday morning saying, “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.”

The 30-year-old Democratic elect, who holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from North-Eastern University in Boston, joins congress as a ‘shadow’ member, which means he holds no voting power. Shadow, in this context, refers too, “A person, body or campaign acting on the behalf of a group that does not technically exist.” Washington DC has been in a decades long fight with the US Congress to become a state of their own. The elected shadow members are put into congress to lobby for their state’s independence.

Nigerian born Owolewa’s father comes from Kwara State and his mother from Oyo. He is one of nine Nigerian-Americans on Tuesday’s general election ballot.

According to his campaign website, Oye Owolewa. “was elected commissioner of his neighbourhood in SouthEast DC. Lastly, Oye has been an advocate for DC statehood, leading to his run to be your next representative.”

“He launched TaxFreeDC as a movement to combat DC’s taxation without representation. TaxFreeDC declares that until DC statehood is achieved, DC’s tax revenue shall no longer go to the federal government. Oye believes our money belongs here for DC priorities instead of going to a government that fails to recognise us.”