9 Nigerians Contesting In Tuesday’s United States Elections

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No fewer than nine Nigerian Americans are on the ballot in
Tuesday’s general elections in the United States, the News Agency
of Nigeria reports.

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

NAN reports that besides the presidential election, governorship
polls are holding in 11 states and two territories, in addition to
other state and local elections.

Congressional elections are also holding on Tuesday with all the
435 seats in the United States 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 the
Northeastern University, Boston, is seeking to represent the
District of Columbia (DC) under the Democratic Party.

If elected, the 30-year-old, whose agenda include fighting
income inequality in the United States, 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
United States 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.

This is not his first shot at the United States Congress. In
2014 and 2016, he vied for the Republican Party’s ticket to the
House of Representatives, but lost in both occasions

Faparusi’s priorities include being a positive voice for all
Nigerians in the United States Senate, and inspiring Americans of
African or Nigerian descent to seek public office in the
country.

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.

According to Wikipedia, Faleti was in the United States 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.

His goals as a Secretary of State include protection of the
“right to vote for Missouri families”, and ensuring elected
officials hear the people’s voice.

Also at the state level, Mr Paul Akinjo from
Ondo, 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 United States Army Reserve from 1982 to 1989. His priorities
include housing, immigration and transportation.

In Delaware, a small Mid-Atlantic United States state,
Adewunmi Kuforiji is aspiring to represent
District 34 in the state House of Representatives.

Kuforiji, originally from Ibadan, Oyo, secured the Democratic
Party’s ticket on Sept. 15 after defeating his challenger, Robert
Haynes, at the primary. He holds a Bachelor in Accounting and a
Master’s in Business Administration from the Delaware State
University.

In the 2018 mid-term elections, he vied for the same position
but lost to the incumbent, Lyndon Yearick, of the Republican Party,
whom he is facing he on Tuesday.

Also at the state level, 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 (DFLP), an affiliate of the United
States 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.

She is one of one of four progressive greenhorns who defeated
established Democratic legislators in the primary.

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

As a millennial, a “generation that has suffered numerous
setbacks”, she seeks to bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to
government.

On the ballot at the local government level are April Ademiluyi,
Ngozi Akubuike and Benjamin Osemenam.

Ademiluyi, 39, is running on the Democratic
Party’s ticket for Judge of the Seventh Circuit Court in Prince
George’s County, Maryland.

For her part, Akubuike, a legal practitioner, is an independent
candidate for judge of the Minnesota 2nd District Court Position
8.

Akubuike studied law in Nigeria, then worked in
the banking sector before moving to the United States where she
graduated from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
She has served in several capacities, including legal manager for
the state of Minnesota.

Osemenam, who moved to the United States in
1982, is contesting for a seat in the Brooklyn Park City Council of
Minnesota to represent East District.

An engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, he
is vying on the platform of National Party.

He is a former president of the Association of Nigerian
Engineers in Minnesota. (NAN)