Senate President, Ahmad Lawan is currently mourning with the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, and Guild of Editors, NGE after the death of their colleague, Waheed Bakare.

In a recent statement by his Special Adviser, Media, Ola Awoniyi, Lawan condoled with Mr. Bakare’s family, and the Management and Staff of the New Telegraph newspapers where Bakare worked as the Saturday editor.

His words, “I extend my condolences to the family of Mr. Bakare and to members of the journalism profession in general over the untimely death of their colleagues.

“May Almighty Allah grant the departed soul eternal bliss and comfort his loved ones and colleagues as they grapple with the painful loss.”

Omo Agege added, “He was, without question, one of our finest in the journalism profession. My heart goes out to the family he left behind while I call on Nigerians to remember them at this very trying moment.”

R.I.P.

Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan is a Nigerian senator who represents the All Progressive Congress in the Yobe North Constituency of Yobe State. He became a senator in 2007. In 2019, he emerged the new Senate President of the 9th National Assembly with 79 votes cast to beat Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume with 28 votes.

Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan born (1959) was a lecturer with a Nigeria federal university of Maiduguri, Borno North-Eastern state and a politician and senator now the president of the Nigerian senate. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Maiduguri in 1984, a master’s degree in Remote Sensing from the Ahmadu Bello University and a Doctorate degree in Remote Sensing/GIS from Cranfield University, UK, in 1990 and 1996 respectively.

In 2015 Lawan ran for the senate president after APC zoned the position to the north eastern Nigeria based on the party’s power sharing formula among the six geo-political zones at the time. The zoning meant that only senators elected on the platform of the party (APC) from the six states in the north east could run for senate president.

After consultations with critical political stakeholders and senators elect from the north east, Lawan was endorsed and presented to the national leadership of the party who anointed him as the candidate of the party for senate president. The APC zoning arrangement prevents other senators elect who are form other zones from contesting for the seat. But senator Bukola Saraki from Kwara State, north central disagreed with the party’s arrangement saying all qualified candidates should be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights to run for positions of leadership of the Nigerian Senate. Saraki declared his candidacy against the party,s zoning principle.