Biden Picks Nigerian-American as White House Counsel

By Ahmed Rahma

The United States of America President-elect, Mr Joe Biden, has appointed a 26-year-old Nigerian-American, Mrs Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo, as a White House counsel.

This was announced in a statement on Biden-Harris transition website.

According to the statement, Mrs Badejo, a lawyer and an alumna of Berkeley Law College in the US, had served as a counsel for policy to the assistant attorney general in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Ethics Counsel at the White House Counsel’s Office and Attorney Advisor at the Administrative Conference of the United States during the Obama-Biden administration.

She was also a general counsel of the House Selected Subcommittee on the Coronavirus crisis which was chaired by James Clyburn, House majority whip.

As stated in the statement, “Today, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced additional members of the Office of the White House Counsel.

“These experienced and accomplished individuals have a wide range of knowledge from various fields and will be ready to get to work on day one.”

“Olorunnipa Badejo began her legal career as an associate with the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and was Legal Counsel at Palantir Technologies Inc. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the University of Florida. Originally from Florida, Olorunnipa Badejo lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and son.”

Mrs Badejo is not the first Nigerian-American to be appointed by the US president-elect.

Mr Adewale Adeyemo was recently announced as deputy secretary of the treasury department.

Another Nigerian American, Ms Osaremen Okolo, was also appointed a member of Mr Biden’s COVID-19 response team.