Nigeria’s new Senator President, Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan is, no doubt, a man of destiny. After months of anticipation, lobbying, endorsements and controversy that characterised the buildup to the election of Senate president since the February 23, 2019 election , the former minority leader in the Red Chambers who represents the All Progressive Congress, APC, in the Yobe North Constituency of Yobe State emerged Senate President on Tuesday beating his opponent Ali Ndume with 79-28 votes in a keenly contested election at the National Assembly.
Senator Lawan became a senator in 2007 and has been visible in almost all the activities of the Senate where he now enjoys his third term.
Lawan was born in 1959 (60 years). He is a graduate of the University of Maidugiri where he read geography. He also has a postgraduate diploma in land survey, an MSc and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS), all from the University of Cranfield, United Kingdom. He has his National Youth Service Corps programme in Benue State.
Lawan’s political profile started in 1999 when he was elected to the House of Representatives for the northern state of Yobe. He became noticeable in the Lower Chamber immediately as he was appointed at different times to chairman House Committees on education and agriculture.
Lawan was elected to the Senate in 2007. In 2008, he was a member of the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Constitution Review. In 2009, as chairman of the Senate committee on Public Accounts, Lawan initiated and sponsored the Desertification Control Commission Bill.
A respected member of the Senate, his colleagues listen to him attentively whenever he takes the floor to speak on any issues. No wonder that in August 2009, Senator Lawan spoke against the proposed Kafin Zaki Dam angling that the Tiga Dam and Challaya Dam had already reduced water flow drastically, and the Jama’are River was now the main source of water in the Yobe River. He said the dams caused intense poverty, increased desert encroachment, migration and conflicts between arable farmers and herdsmen.
Lawan ran for reelection in Yobe North Senatorial District on the ANPP platform in the 9 April 2011 elections. He won with 92,799 votes, trailed by Hassan Kafayos Hussaini of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) with 76,960 votes.
After meeting with President Buhari on Thursday, June 6, 2019, Senator Danjuma Goje stepped down for Senator Lawan from the Senate Presidency race.
Lawan has never worked outside the educational sector. He became a graduate assistant at the University of Maidugiri after he graduated and he retired as an accomplished scholar and educationist before his foray into active politics.
Lawan has been a member of the Nigerian parliament since the return of democracy in the country in 1999. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives in 1999. After 8 years in the lower chambers, Lawan was elected into the Nigerian Senate in 2007, and he has been a member of the upper chamber since then.
Lawan is the most experienced senator in the ranks of the All Progressives Congress.
Lawan has bagged so many awards that include National Honours Award of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON); Fellow of the Institute for Government Research and Leadership Technology (2012); Best Performing Senator in Yobe State in 2009 by Yobe State Students’ Association, University of Abuja Chapter; Best Senator for Effective Oversight, NUJ; Best Senator in 2011 by Baseline Global Ventures; and the Sardauna Legendary Pillar of Exemplary Leadership Award by Leadership and Role Model Foundation of Nigeria.
Lawan is close to the family of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The new Senate President is married with children.
