NEWS
Ahmed Lawan is Nigeria’s new Senate President
The lawmaker representing Yobe north senatorial district, Ahmad Lawan has been elected president of the senate.
Lawan secured 79 votes to defeat Ali Ndume from Borno south who polled 28 votes.
Although the two contestants are of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the leadership of the ruling party had endorsed the new senate president.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had teamed up with Ndume but unlike in 2015 when Bukola Saraki, then of the APC, rode to power with the support of the PDP, the ruling party perfected its plot to ensure Lawan’s victory.
Lawan was the choice of the leadership of the APC in 2015.
Earlier, Yayaha Abdullahi from Kebbi had nominated Lawan for the position while Solomon Olamilekan from Lagos seconded the nomination.
Here are seven quick facts to know about him:
*He became a Senator in 2007 and was the immediate Senate Leader of the 8th Assembly.
*He is the most experienced Senator in the ranks of the All Progressive Congress (APC) having been elected for fourth successive term.
* Lawan was born in 1959.
*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.
* He received a bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Maiduguri, a Masters degree in Remote Sensing from Ahmadu Bello University and a Doctorate degree in Remote Sensing/GIS from Cranfield University, UK. He did his National Youth Service Corps Programme in Benue State.
* He was elected a member of the House of Representatives in 19.
