Ahmad Lawan: Biography, career, net worth, family
Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan is a Nigerian politician and scholar who serves as the President of the Nigerian Senate. He represents the Yobe North Senatorial District in the Senate.
Table of Content hide 1Biography 2Career 3Ahmad Lawan as Senator 4Ahmad Lawan as Senate President 5Net worth 6Family 7Tribe 8ConclusionBiography
Ahmad Lawan, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was born in Gashua, north of British Nigeria, on January 12, 1959. Before getting a bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Maiduguri in 1984, he completed his primary education at Sabon Gari Primary School in Gashua in 1974 and secondary school at Government Secondary School, Gashua, in 1979.
After graduating from college, Lawan had his community service year in Benue State before earning his master’s in Remote Sensing from Ahmadu Bello University in 1990 and his doctorate in remote sensing/GIS from Cranfield University in 1996.
Career
Between 1985 and 1986, Lawan served as an education officer in the Yobe State Ministry of Education. From 1987 to 1997, he lectured at his alma mater, the University of Maiduguri.
Ahmad Lawan as Senator
Lawan led the House Committees on agriculture and education at various points after being chosen in 1999 as a representative for the Bade/Jakusko district.
Lawan won the 2007 election for the Senate. He participated in the Joint Committee on Constitution Review of the National Assembly in 2008. The Desertification Control Commission Bill was introduced and sponsored by Lawan in 2009 while serving as the Senate Committee on Public Accounts chairman.
Senator Lawan came out against the proposed Kafin Zaki Dam in August 2009. He said that the Jama’are River was now the Yobe River’s primary water supply because the Tiga Dam and Challawa Gorge Dam had already significantly decreased water flow. He said the dams were to blame for extreme poverty, greater desert encroachment, migration, and clashes between ranchers and farmers of arable crops.
On the ANPP platform, Lawan ran for re-election in the Yobe North Senatorial District on April 9, 2011. With 92,799 votes, he defeated PDP candidate Hassan Kafayos Hussaini, who received 76,960 votes. After being elected again as an APC member four years later, Lawan won the 2019 election with 72% of the vote.
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Ahmad Lawan as Senate President
After the APC assigned the position to the north-eastern region of Nigeria based on the party’s power-sharing mechanism among the six geopolitical zones, Lawan ran for senate president in 2015. Because of the zoning, only senators from the six states in the northeast elected on the party’s platform were eligible to run for senate president. Following discussions with important political figures and newly elected senators from the northeast, Lawan received support and was introduced to the party’s national leadership, who chose him as the party’s nominee for Senate President. The APC’s zoning system forbids senators from other zones from running for the position.
Sen. Bukola Saraki of Kwara State in the north-central region of Nigeria disagreed with the party’s decision, arguing that all competent candidates should be able to exercise their constitutional right to contest for leadership posts in the Senate of Nigeria. Saraki announced his candidacy in opposition to the party’s zoning policy.
On June 9, 2015, the day of the Senate President election, 51 APC senators gathered at the International Conference Centre in anticipation of a truce meeting that was reportedly called by the APC leadership and President Muhammadu Buhari with the explicit goal of convincing senator Saraki to give up his ambition and support Lawan when 57 senators, the majority of whom were from the opposition PDP and a small number of APC senators, conducted the election.
Saraki was elected with 57 unanimous votes from the senators in attendance. Lawal was present at the International Conference Center when the voting took place, and a winner was declared. The circumstance finally dashed his desire to become the 8th Senate President.
Senator Danjuma Goje resigned from the Senate Presidency race for Senator Lawan on Thursday, June 6, 2019, following their meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. On June 11, 2019, Senator Ali Ndume, an APC Senator, lost to Senator Ahmed Lawan, who was then elected and sworn in as the Senate President of Nigeria’s 9th Assembly. With 79 votes to 28, Senator Ahmed Lawan defeated his opponent.
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Net worth
Lawan is thought to be worth $10 million.
Family
In June 2021, Senator Ahmed Lawan married Zainab Algoni Abdulwahid. The ceremony took place in Maiduguri in the mosque of Sheikh Sharif Ibrahim Saleh.
Tribe
He is from Yobe State. Some reports claim he is from the Hausa tribe.
Conclusion
Lawan and several lawmakers were charged with accepting bribes after the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) passed in August 2021, despite strong public resistance to some of the legislation’s provisions. According to People’s Gazette, payments totaling at least $10 million were made to lawmakers through arrangements made by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva and Akwa Ibom North-East Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, with Lawan and House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila each receiving between $1.5 million and $2 million.
Several lawmakers expressed anger over the bribes rather than the alleged acceptance of bribes by Gbajabiamila and Lawan, as other lawmakers claimed to have received $5,000 for representatives and $20,000 for senators, rather than the fact that the bribes were not distributed equally among the lawmakers. Initial responses from Gbajabiamila, Lawan, Sylva, and Akpan about the report were all negative. Lawan denied the story a few days later, calling it “unwarranted, unproven, and false.” He advised Nigerians always to have a positive outlook on their leaders and governments and to speak their truths if they have concerns they feel strongly about. He also advised that they be ready to correct any errors they believe should be able to improve.
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