Ibrahim Ahmad M.

Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (born 12 January 1959) is a Nigerian politician and former lecturer who served as the 14th president of the Nigerian Senate from 2019 to 2023. He represents the Yobe North Senatorial District in the Senate as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A university lecturer from Gashua, Lawan was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 to represent the Bade/Jakusko Constituency as a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Lawan was reelected in 2003 before successfully running to become Yobe North Senator in 2007. After being reelected in 2011, 2015, and 2019 (as a member of the All Progressive Congress, successor to the ANPP), Lawan was elected the new Senate President with 79 votes cast to defeat Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume with 28 votes after the inauguration of the 9th Nigeria National Assembly in 2019. It was his second attempt at becoming Senate President, following a notable failed run in 2015.

Lawan was born on 12 January 1959 in Gashua, then in the north of British Nigeria. He completed primary school at Sabon Gari Primary School, Gashua in 1974 and secondary school at Government Secondary School, Gashua in 1979 before receiving a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of Maiduguri in 1984. After university, Lawan completed his compulsory service year in Benue State and later obtained a master's degree in Remote Sensing from Ahmadu Bello University and a Doctorate degree in Remote Sensing/GIS from Cranfield University in 1990 and 1996, respectively.

Lawan worked in the Yobe State Civil Service as an Education Officer in the state Ministry of Education from 1985 to 1986 before lecturing at his alma mater, University of Maiduguri between 1987 and 1997. After being elected to the House of Representatives for the Bade/Jakusko constituency in 1999, he chaired the House Committees on education and agriculture at various times.

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. In August 2009, Senator Lawan spoke against the proposed Kafin Zaki Dam, citing environmental and socio-economic impacts such as reduced water flow, poverty, desert encroachment, and conflicts between farmers and herdsmen.

Lawan ran for reelection in Yobe North Senatorial District on the ANPP platform in the 9 April 2011 elections, winning with 92,799 votes. Four years later, he won reelection as a member of the APC, securing 72% of the vote in 2019. In 2015, despite APC zoning rules, Lawan was endorsed for Senate President but lost to Bukola Saraki due to opposition votes. He was later elected Senate President in 2019 with 79 votes against Ndume’s 28.

In 2023, Lawan was named chairman of the Senate committee on defence. In October 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari conferred the Nigerian National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on him. Despite allegations of bribery in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Lawan denied these claims, emphasizing his commitment to correcting misinformation and improving governance.