Photo: Shirley Emehelu with her husband and children — BusinessDay
Shirley U. Emehelu, a Nigerian-born lawyer, has been sworn in as the fifth Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey in the United States, becoming the first immigrant to hold the office since it was created.
Governor Mikie Sherrill appointed Emehelu on Monday, November 9, and she took the oath at the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton, administered by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, with her husband Ikenna and their children at her side. She also continues as Secretary of State.
- First immigrant and first Nigerian-born woman to be New Jersey lieutenant governor
- For the first time, women hold both of the state's top executive offices
- A Yale-trained lawyer and former federal prosecutor of nine years
From Nigeria to Yale and the prosecutor's office
Emehelu, 48, was born in Nigeria and came to the United States at the age of three. She went on to Yale University and Yale Law School, clerked for a federal judge in Virginia, and spent nine years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, prosecuting complex financial fraud and corruption cases.
She later served as Executive Assistant Attorney General from 2022 to 2024, the third-ranking post in New Jersey's Attorney General's Office, before joining the Sherrill administration as acting state comptroller and then acting secretary of state in September, after her predecessor Dale Caldwell resigned.
She succeeds Caldwell in both roles, and her appointment requires no legislative confirmation.
What Emehelu said at the swearing-in
"As a Black woman and Nigerian American, I am proud of what this appointment represents for our state, and especially for the communities that share my heritage. This is a milestone we can celebrate together," she said.
"I hope we can inspire the next generation to find their own ways to serve and make a little history of their own too," she added.
Sherrill and Emehelu previously worked together as federal prosecutors in Newark and lived in the same town, Montclair, where their children attended the same elementary school.
What happens next
As lieutenant governor, Emehelu serves as the governor's deputy and acting governor whenever Sherrill leaves the state, while her Secretary of State role keeps her in charge of elections, business services and cultural programmes.
For Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, her swearing-in marks the most senior state executive office yet held by a Nigerian American.
Credit: BusinessDay and Vanguard reports of November 9–11, 2026. Follow @newstweetnaija on Instagram for the day's biggest stories.
