Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), has congratulated 22-year-old Nigerian-American Steve Ezeonu for winning the Grand Prairie City Council election run-off in Texas, U.S.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa congratulated Mr Ezeonu in a statement by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head of Media and Public Relations of the commission.

She said Mr Ezeonu’s victory was hard-earned but well-deserved.

According to the statement, the young Nigerian-American earned 3,903 votes to beat his closest rival Greg Giessner, who garnered 3,720 votes in the June 5 run-off.

The run-off saw Mr Ezeonu (Democrat) getting 51.2 per cent of the votes against Mr Giessner’s 48.8 per cent.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa explained that by emerging victorious, Mr Ezeonu proved “hard work and dedication to duty pay.”

She pointed out that she was not surprised by Mr Ezeonu’s victory because his resilience, dedication, doggedness contributed to his success despite his young age.

The NiDCOM chief urged other Nigerians to imitate Mr Ezeonu’s feat and strive to excel in their pursuits as “hard work is the key to success,” while urging them also to continue to demonstrate the spirit of resilience imbibed in Nigerians.

She advised Mr Ezeonu to fulfil all his electoral promises to the electorate, expressing appreciation to the Nigerian community in Texas for giving him their maximum support.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that she had contacted Mr Ezeonu earlier before the election to give him words of encouragement and support.