John Olumba

In 2014 Olumba earned the chairmanship over the house appropriations subcommittee of fiscal oversight. Perhaps historical, this marks one of the first times where a representative not in the majority party maintained a chairmanship of a committee.

As a representative, Olumba's notoriety increased after formally initiating a federal investigation into the offices of Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and reports of backlash surfaced.[2] Olumba said he received threatening phone calls and elected officials visited him at his home uninvited in order to coerce him into retracting his investigation. Olumba said two of his Democratic colleagues handed him a retraction letter on the floor of the House of Representatives that he eventually handed over to federal authorities. Thus far, the investigation has yielded two indictments and one conviction.

Toward the end of his first term, Olumba also sought an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General into Detroit Mayor Dave Bing over money he said was misappropriated from two city departments.

In August 2010, Olumba won the state's most crowded primary with 16 people seeking office by a 2 to 1 margin over the closest competitor. Olumba was elected in November 2010 in a landslide victory to serve in the 96th legislature of the State of Michigan.[3] Although Olumba is a native of Detroit, Olumba's father migrated to Detroit from Africa as a student-activist during the Nigerian Civil War and, once elected, Olumba became the first Nigerian elected to a state office in Michigan history.

Olumba caused controversy within the Michigan House Democratic Caucus when he accused the caucus of allowing the Emergency Manager Law Public Act 4 to pass with immediate effect when they could have blocked its passage by engaging in a filibuster. Olumba is also known for his introduction of a series of bills he named the Detroit Reinvestment and Restructuring Omnibus designed to revitalize the city. It is the largest bill package intended for the municipality in history.

Olumba served on the House Judiciary and Commerce Committees in addition to a special subcommittee on Economic Development and Trade.

In his first term, Olumba represented the 5th house district which also included the cities of Highland Park and Hamtramck. Olumba was redistricted into the 3rd district and, following a contentious primary election in which Olumba defeated another incumbent, Olumba won the general with 96 percent of the vote. The 3rd district is the only entirely Detroit house district.

On February 19, 2013, Olumba began to work independently as a Democrat, citing the lack of an urban or African American agenda by the Michigan House Democrats. Olumba argued that Detroit is the highest tax entity in the state yet, there are no African Americans or Detroiters on the Tax Policy Committee and they are underrepresented on the Appropriations Committee.[4]