Ahmed Lawan

Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan (born 12 January 1959) is a Nigerian senator who serves as the President of the Senate of Nigeria. He represents Yobe North Constituency of Yobe State under the All Progressive Congress (APC). His tenure as a senator started since 2007 Nigeria general election.[1] In 2019, he emerged the new Senate President of the 9th National Assembly with 79 votes cast to beat Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume with 28 votes.[2]

Ahmed Lawan
President of the Nigerian Senate
Assumed office
11 June 2019
Preceded byAbubakar Bukola Saraki
Senate Majority Leader
In office
10 January 2016 – 06 June 2019
Preceded byMohammed Ali Ndume
Senator for Yobe North
Assumed office
May 2007
Preceded byUsman Albishir
Personal details
Born
Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan

(1959-01-12) 12 January 1959
Political partyAll Progressive Congress (APC)
ProfessionPolitician

Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan was a lecturer with a Nigeria federal university of Maiduguri, Borno North-Eastern state and a politician and senator now the president of the Nigerian senate. He holds a bachelor's degree in Geography from the University of Maiduguri in 1984.,[3] a postgraduate diploma degree in Land Surveying from the Ahmadu Bello University, a master's degree in Remote Sensing from the Ahmadu Bello University and a Doctorate degree in Remote Sensing/GIS from Cranfield University, UK, in 1990 and 1996 respectively.[4]

Political career

Elected to the House of Representatives for the northern state of Yobe in 1999, at different times Lawan chaired the House Committees on education and agriculture.[5]

Lawan was elected to the Senate in 2007. In 2008, he was a member of the National Assembly's Joint Committee on Constitution Review.[6] In 2009, as chairman of the Senate committee on Public Accounts, Lawan initiated and sponsored the Desertification Control Commission Bill.[7]

In August 2009, Senator Lawan spoke against the proposed Kafin Zaki Dam. He stated that the Tiga Dam and Challawa Gorge 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.[8]

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.[9]

Senate Presidency

2015 contest

In 2015 Lawan ran for the senate president after APC zoned the position to the north eastern Nigeria based on the party's power-sharing formula among the six geo-political zones at the time. The zoning meant that only senators elected on the platform of the party (APC) from the six states in the north east could run for senate president.[10][11] After consultations with critical political stakeholders and senators elect from the north east, Lawan was endorsed and presented to the national leadership of the party who anointed him as the candidate of the party for senate president.[12][13] The APC zoning arrangement prevents other senators elect who are from other zones from contesting for the seat. But senator Bukola Saraki from Kwara State, north central disagreed with the party's arrangement saying all qualified candidates should be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights to run for positions of leadership of the Nigerian Senate. Saraki declared his candidacy against the party's zoning principle.

On the morning of June 9, 2015 the day for the election of the senate president 51 senators of the APC gathered at the International Conference Centre waiting for a truce meeting reportedly called by the leadership of the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari with a clear objective to prevail on senator Saraki to drop his ambition and support Lawan when 57 senators mostly of the opposition PDP and a few senators of APC present conducted the election.[14] Saraki won the election by 57 unanimous votes[15] of the senators present during the election.[16][17][18] Lawal was at the International Conference Centre when the election was conducted and a winner emerged. That event finally nailed his ambition for the president of the 8th senate.

2019

After meeting with the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, June 6, 2019, Senator Danjuma Goje stepped down for Senator Lawan from the Senate Presidency race. On June 11, 2019, Senator Ahmed Lawan of APC was elected and sworn in as the Senate President of the Nigerian 9th Assembly,[19] after defeating his opponent, Senator Ali Ndume who is also an APC Senator.[20] Senator Ahmed Lawan defeated his opponent with 79 votes to 28[21][22]

References
  1. "Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan". National Assembly of Nigeria. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  2. Enios, Akinkotu. "BREAKING: Lawan emerges Senate President". Punch. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  3. "BBC Pidgin". BBC Pidgin. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  4. Busari, Kemi (11 June 2019). "PROFILE: Crossing many hurdles, Ahmed Lawan, former lecturer, becomes Senate president". Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  5. "Evaluating Sen Ahmed Lawan's Years in Nass". Daily Trust. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  6. "Senate – Questions Over Membership of Jccr". This Day. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  7. "Desertification Commission Will Check Encroachment". Daily Trust. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  8. Sufuyan Ojeifo (3 August 2009). "A Senator's Worries Over Kafin-Zaki Dam". This Day. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  9. Mohammed Abubakar (13 April 2011). "ANPP wins NASS election in Yobe". Daily Independent. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  10. Adoyi, Ali (25 April 2015). "APC zones Senate presidency to North-East, speakership to South West". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  11. METROWATCH (15 April 2015). "Ndume Wants APC to zone Senate Presidency to North-east". METROWATCH. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  12. "Senate Presidency: N/W, S/W, Yobe caucuses endorse Lawan". Vanguard News. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  13. "Buhari, Tinubu, Atiku Meet NASS Over Senate President, Speaker Seats". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  14. siteadmin (9 June 2015). "Senator Saraki 'Elected' Senate President While APC Senators Were Meeting With Buhari". Sahara Reporters. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  15. "Bukola Saraki elected Senate President - Premium Times Nigeria". 9 June 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  16. siteadmin (9 June 2015). "How Saraki Deceived Buhari, Outwitted APC To Become "Senate President"". Sahara Reporters. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  17. "Saraki's Bloodless 'Coup': How He Became Senate President in 2015". P.M. News. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  18. "FLASHBACK: On this day in 2015, Saraki 'dribbled' APC to become senate president". TheCable. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  19. Folorunso 'FSJ' Junior (11 June 2019). 3Monkeys Dubai. Sahara Reporters Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  20. "Breaking: Ahmed Lawan emerges as new Senate President". Oak TV Newstrack. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  21. Press, Fellow (11 June 2019). "Breaking news: Lawan elected senate president". Fellow Press. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  22. Lawan announced as Nigeria’s Senate President https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/334488-breaking-lawan-announced-as-nigerias-senate-president.html?amp_markup=1
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