Meet Nigerian refugee running for 2015 Presidential election in Spain

zainab quadri

September 14, 2015 12:19 PM

Meet Helen Mukoro, a Nigerian-born Spanish lawyer, who is going viral and making history as the first woman and the first immigrant to run for Spain's presidency.

Meet Nigerian refugee running for 2015 Presidential election in Spain

Helen Mukoro, a Nigerian-born Spanish lawyer, is going viral and making history as the first woman and the first immigrant to run for Spain's presidency.

She recently emerged as the presidential candidate of her new opposition party, Union De Todos, for Spain’s upcoming general election that would be held on December 20, 2015.

Mukoro hails from Delta state and worked briefly in Delta State Governor’s office before she left Nigeria to Spain in 1992.

She gained prominence in Spain’s political scene after she founded Union De Todos, which loosely translates in English to “Union of All,” and in May she became the first Nigerian-Spanish candidate to run for mayor of Denia in Spain’s eastern province of Alicante. Mukoro lost the election, but her popularity soared and several people endorsed her for the presidential ticket, according to The Guardian Newspaper.

Mukoro, who lives in the eastern city of Denia, runs a legal firm and has worked as a legal consultant at the Red Cross Society in Spain. She served as CEO and president of the African Europe chamber of commerce and CEO and president of the National Agency of Forensic Experts, Mediators and Technical Professionals of Spain and Europe.

Aside graduating in Law at the Spanish National University Alicante, she also holds a Master degree in Criminology, Masters degree in Social Education, a post graduate certificate in Tax and Labor Management, a post graduate certificate in Forensic Psychology, and a post graduate certificate in Immigration and Domestic Violence.

zainab quadri