A Nigerian-born public official, Nwachinemere Kalu-Agba, has been re-elected as the Deputy Mayor (Mayor Pro Tem) of the City of Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States, securing another two-year term that will run until 2027.
His re-election was made public on Sunday in a Facebook post by Peter Agba Kalu, who congratulated him and urged Nigerians and supporters to celebrate the achievement.
Naijaonpoint understands that Kalu-Agba, who also represents his district as a City Council member, previously occupied the Deputy Mayor position but stepped down following the implementation of a new state law setting a strict two-year tenure limit for the Mayor Pro Tem office.
The law prohibits immediate re-election, requiring at least one tenure cycle before a former officeholder can return to the role.
After his successor completed the required term, Kalu-Agba became eligible again and was re-elected to the position. He will now serve simultaneously as Deputy Mayor and City Council representative.
His current four-year City Council mandate is expected to expire in 2027, at which point he will decide whether to seek re-election.
The development has been met with congratulatory messages, with many describing his re-election as another proud moment for Nigerians in diaspora leadership roles.
In other news recently, a former Mayor of Blanco City in Texas, United States of America, Mike Arnold, has challenged the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar III, to provide evidence that he is not involved in what he described as jihad genocide” and widespread killings in the country.
Naijaonpoint reports that Arnold, the founder of Africa Arise International, published a string of social media posts accusing the Sultan of being complicit in mass killings and resource looting in parts of northern Nigeria.
However, the Sultanate Council of Sokoto described Arnold’s statement as baseless and undeserving of a response, saying the monarch would not dignify the accusations with a reply.
Speaking with Punch, the former Mayor claimed that data and incidents across the northern part of the country suggested that the Sultan cannot be totally detached from violent acts occurring in the region.
Arnold questioned what he called the Sultan’s “silence and inaction” amid the wave of violent attacks and mass killings in the North, particularly those targeting Christian communities.
He said, “The evidence points to there being an intelligent designer of this whole diabolical machine of jihad, genocide, conquest, displacement, and resource extraction. There are many provable data points, and I believe the points paint a picture that demands the Sultan be investigated for these things.
“I am not declaring him guilty, only a prime suspect based on all available evidence. The facts demand investigation and answers to either determine his guilt or clear him of it. Let’s hear his case.
“The Nigerian government estimates that at least $9bn a year in minerals are looted from his own hereditary lands. Why hasn’t he tried to stop this? He has powerful armed militias under his authority, does he not? So why aren’t the illicit miners being stopped? Who is getting that money?”
The former Mayor also alleged that the Sultan had done little to address the rise of militant Fulani groups accused of carrying out numerous attacks, noting that while he once issued a fatwa against Boko Haram after the group challenged his authority, no similar action had been taken against Fulani militants.
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]