Oye Owolewa: Meet Nigerian-American who secured re-election into US Congress

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Oye Owolewa, a Nigerian-American Democrat, has been re-elected as the shadow representative for the District of Columbia (DC).

Oye Owolewa was re-elected as DC Shadow Representative. Photo credit: @repoyedc
Source: Twitter

On Thursday, November 7, Owolewa expressed his gratitude to DC voters via a post on X, thanking them for their continued support.

“Thank you DC again for giving me chance to serve. I also want to thank the organizations that have supported, partnered with and endorsed me,” he tweeted.

While shadow representatives like Owolewa do not have voting power in the US House of Representatives, they play a key role in pushing for recognition and state-level advocacy for DC residents, who are otherwise disenfranchised at the federal level, The Cable reported.

Owolewa's historic election in 2020

Meanwhile, Owolewa, a PhD graduate from Northeastern University in Boston, made history in November 2020, when he became the first Nigerian-American elected to congress.

He secured 164,026 votes, or 82.84 percent of the total votes cast in DC.

His role, while not officially recognised by the US government as a full member of congress, is to advocate for the district’s interests, particularly its bid for statehood.

Nigerians reacts to Oye Owolewa's re-election victory in 2024

As usual, Nigerians took to the comment section on X and reacted to the development. Legit.ng compiled a few of their reactions below;

@CroBender tweeted:

"It will favour Nigerians."

@emmytop01 tweeted:

"Congratulations."

@igwechibuikem tweeted:

"I hope this one no snub?"

@Chuksbey tweeted:

"Congratulations Champ. More wins ahead."

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As the first black woman to lead a major UK political party, Badenoch takes over from Rishi Sunak as leader of the opposition after the Conservative Party suffered its worst-ever election defeat

Many Nigerians have reacted to her victory, praising her historic achievement while also assessing its potential impact on Nigeria

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Source: Legit.ng