Senate Presidency: South East group backs Yobe Senator, Ahmed Lawan

With various aspirants jostling for various positions ahead of the inauguration of the 8^th National Assembly, the South East chapter of a non-governmental organisation, National Coalition for Good Governance, has pleaded with Senators-elect to “unanimously” elect the Senator representing Yobe North, Ahmad Lawan, as the next President of Senate.

The group, which consists of a number of NGOs, in a press statement on Wednesday, said from its analysis, the nation would require a “stable, visionary and purposeful National Assembly”, which it said the Senate Presidency under Senator Lawan will guarantee.

The group said Mr. Lawan has “consistency in character, capacity and competence”.

In an apparent analysis of all contenders for the post, the group declared “having scored so high in the areas of consistency, character and competence, we therefore strongly appeal to the APC and the Senators-elect to please do the needful for the sake of posterity by electing unanimously, distinguished Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan as the President of Senate.

“Consistency in political party affiliations points to character and dependability which are critical to the person who will occupy the office of the President of Senate”, the statement signed by Eze Odiri, the coordinator of the group, said.

The group said Mr. Lawan had exhibited consistency in many areas, especially in party membership, stressing that he “has consistently been a member of the ANPP until it merged with other parties to form the APC”.

It further pointed out that Mr. Lawan had been in the National Assembly since the return to democratic rule in 1999, first as a member of the House of Representatives before he won election to the Senate in 2007.

Mr. Lawan again won re-election in the March 28 National Assembly elections, making him one of the few ranking senators in the red chamber.

The group listed Mr. Lawan’s committee membership in both the House of Reps and the Senate to include Chairman, House of Reps committee on Agriculture-2003-2005; Chairman, House of Reps Committee on Education-2005-2007 and Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts-2007-2015.