US President-elect, Joe Biden, has appointed Nigerian-born Funmi Olorunnipa-Badejo as a member of his cabinet.
Biden had announced the appointment of Olorunnipa-Badejo, a lawyer and an alumna of Berkeley Law College in the US, when he named additional 20 members of the office of the White House counsel.
The office of White House counsel advises the president, the executive office of the president, and the White House staff on legal issues pertaining to the president and the White House.
Olorunnipa-Badejo served as ethics counsel in the same office towards the end of the Obama administration.
According to a statement on the Biden-Harris transition website, Olorunnipa-Badejo was General Counsel of the Congress select sub-committee on the coronavirus crisis which was chaired by James Clyburn, House majority whip.
“Her prior government service includes serving as 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.
“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,” the statement read.
Olorunnipa-Badejo, who is married to Tunde Badejo, is from Kogi State and daughter of an immigrant who chooses to identify herself with Florida.
Biden will be sworn in on January 20 as the 46th US president.
In December, Osaremen Okolo, a Nigerian-American, was appointed a member of Biden’s COVID-19 response team.
This was after Nigerian-born Adewale Adeyemo was announced as deputy secretary of the treasury department.
