Nigerian-born attorney Adewale Adeyemo has been appointed deputy secretary of US Treasury.
Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission Abike Dabiri-Erewa confirmed the appointment in a tweet on Monday.
“It’s official! Wale Adeyemo becomes the first ever Nigerian American Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury, in the history of the country!! Congrats to Wale. #proudlyNigerian,” she wrote.
Adeyemo served as senior international economic adviser during the Obama administration.
He will serve under former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen whom US President-elect Joe Biden plans to appoint to lead the US Treasury Department.
Born in Nigeria, Adeyemo was raised in California where he obtained a bachelor’s degree before proceeding to Yale Law School for his legal education.
In 2015, he was appointed to concurrently serve as deputy national security advisor for International Economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council.
He went on to become the first president of the Obama Foundation.
