Nigerian in race for New York state assembly

A 27-year old Nigerian, Okenfe Lebarty, has joined the race for a seat in the New York State Assembly election, which is scheduled for September.

According to the North American correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr. Lebarty hails from Edo State and is a political science graduate of the City University of New York.

Mr. Lebarty, who was a Regional Field Organiser and Queen’s County Volunteer Coordinator for ‘Obama for America’ during the U.S. presidential election in 2008, is vying for a seat in Assembly District 31 in New York State on the platform of Democratic Party.

“At present, there is no African in the New York State Assembly and I’m very optimistic to break the jinx,” he said.