Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan

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. 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.

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 beat 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, with 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 before getting a master's degree in Remote Sensing from the 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 in 1985 and 1986 before lecturing at his alma mater, University of Maiduguri between 1987 and 1997. After being elected to the House of Representatives for the constituency of Bade/Jakusko in 1999, at different times Lawan chaired the 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. In August 2009, Senator Lawan spoke against the proposed Kafin Zaki Dam, citing its adverse effects on water flow and local communities.

He won reelection in Yobe North Senatorial District on the ANPP platform in the 9 April 2011 elections, securing 92,799 votes. Four years later, Lawan won reelection as a member of the APC, achieving 72% of the vote in 2019. In 2015, Lawan ran for Senate President but faced opposition from Senator Bukola Saraki, who contested despite party zoning rules. Saraki won the election, ending Lawan’s ambition for the presidency.

On 11 June 2019, Lawan was elected and sworn in as the Senate President of the Nigerian 9th Assembly, defeating Senator Ali Ndume with 79 votes to 28. Following the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in 2021, allegations of bribes were made against Lawan and others, though he denied the claims. In October 2022, he was conferred the Nigerian National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) by President Muhammadu Buhari.