Profile of Senator Lawan, President of the Senate

THE new President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, is a seasoned educator, an erudite scholar and an experienced legislator with over 20 years’ service in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Senator Lawan represents Yobe North Senatorial District and he is a member of the Presidential Advisory Council. He is one of the longest serving lawmakers, having been first elected into the House of Representatives in 1999.

Following 10 years as a lecturer and Research Fellow, Senator Lawan was motivated to serve his state and his fatherland.

His political voyage started in 1998. Consequently, he became the vice chairman, Yobe State chapter of the APP. In 1999, he served as the secretary of the Electoral Committee at the APP national convention, Abuja. Later that year, Senator Lawan was elected to the House of Representatives as member representing Bade/Jakusko federal constituency of Yobe State. After eight years of meritorious service, he was elected Senator for Yobe North in 2007.

Senator Lawan has performed with distinction in both Legislative Chambers, in various capacities, as chairman, House Committee on Agriculture (2003-2005) and chairman, House Committee on Education (2005-2007).

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In demonstration of the trust reposed in him by his constituents, he was elected into the Senate to represent Yobe North senatorial district, comprising of six local government councils. Senator Lawan beats his PDP rival, Honourable Shariff Abdullahi, by 90,656 votes to secure Senate seat.

He was Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts (2007-2015); Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence (2015-2017) and also served as chairman of numerous Senate ad hoc committees, including Senate ad hoc Committee on Privatisation as well as chairman, National Assembly Open Week.

He was the immediate past Majority Leader of the Eighth Senate, sequel to the removal of Senator Ndume.

Senator Lawan attended advanced courses in a wide range of fields such as: Third Westminster Workshop on Public Accounts Committee (House of Parliament, London), Oxford Strategic Leadership (OSLP) Programme (SAID Business School University of Oxford), Professional Development Course on the Canadian Taxation System (Carleton University), Managing Teams for Innovation and Success Programme (Stanford University School of Business) etc.

Senator Ahmad Lawan was awarded the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).