Penultimate Saturday, a wide spectrum of All Progressives Congress (APC) senators rose from their retreat and endorsed Ahmad Lawan as the president of the 8th Senate. Led by Senator Gemade of Benue State, the senators struck an understanding with George Akume, former governor of Benue State and another top contender to the position of Senate president. Akume agreed to partner and run with Lawan as deputy Senate president.

The approval of Lawan a fortnight ago by senators across the six geo-political zones of the country is instructive of his avowed suitability thereby boosting his chances. This is more so as many of the national leaders of the party have thrown their weight behind Lawan.

It is only incontrovertible that the senators who have endorsed Lawan are evidently justified. This is particularly so because, when juxtaposed with other contenders especially in integrity, legislative experience and accomplishments, leadership attributes, erudition and forthrightness, Lawan is second to none. As many senators observed, he is the most desirable to redefine and consolidate the Senate and National Assembly vision for the overall interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Specifically, apart from untarnished political career, Lawan is the most experienced in legislative business and leadership. A bridge builder, he also boasts the highest educational qualification with a doctorate degree in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System. He has the right character, candour and stability to enthrone a corrupt-free Senate, injecting the best legislative practices obtained in other upper chambers globally. This makes it imperative for the senators to ensure that the endorsement is broadened and sustained for him to emerge as Senate president this week.

Since the inception of the National Assembly in 1999,  Lawan has had unbroken chain of 16 years in the National Assembly – eight years in the House and another eight years in the Senate. Naturally, this uncommon feat has intrinsically made him to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Nigerian legislature and its legislative process. With his recent re-election into the Senate on the platform of the APC to represent Yobe North, Lawan has another four years of immense experience and thus ought to be elected on merit to competently pilot the affairs of the Senate.

A vibrant, visionary and focused parliamentarian, Lawan came to the National Assembly in 1999 well prepared. Apart from his educational sophistication, from the outset he had a clear vision of his mission to the parliament which included providing constructive, credible, virile and courageous opposition; holding the executive accountable to the people through effective oversight; ensuring quality representation through regular interface with his constituents; and pursuit of better funding of infrastructural development.

Others included ensuring the delivery of qualitative and functional education; stemming the tide of fiscal indiscipline evident in public finance management and appropriation, and pursuit of legislation and policies geared towards good governance, peace and the welfare of Nigerians.

He has been able to accomplish these through regular, robust, quality and intellectual contributions during plenary sessions and committee activities. He also plays leading role during parliamentary caucus meetings. He is one of the key legislators vociferously opposed to extra-budgetary expenditure, low level of budget implementation and constitutional breaches, especially during Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, and arbitrary deployment of soldiers.

Similarly, he added a strong voice and rallied opposition lawmakers against Obasanjo’s plot for tenure elongation in 2006 and thus contributing largely to the failure of that project. He also moved against President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration over the snail pace adopted in grappling with the Boko Haram insurgency which hitherto has been ravaging his North-East zone resulting in general insecurity in the country.

As House chairman on Education, and later Agriculture, Lawan injected dynamism and parliamentary prowess into the running of the committees. He developed desirable legislative frameworks that brought about unassailable reforms in the two sectors.

Based on the legislative experience he amassed from the House, he was appointed member, Senate ad hoc Committee on  Constitution Review and  has since the past eight years been heading the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, an elaborate committee critical to all sectors of the economy. He has since the appointment been preoccupied with fashioning out a more responsible public accounts regime.

The secret behind his rare and sustained re-elections evidently lies in his humility, accessibility, sincerity, kindness and great performance. More crucially, he has maintained regular interface with his constituents, providing him the opportunity of identifying their needs and aspirations and taking concrete steps towards tackling such. Lawan’s towering legislative feat and governance tinged with pursuit of effective opposition are also instructive of his extensive successes at the polls.

It is incontrovertible that his 16 active and pulsating years in the parliament playing leading roles have earned him vast, profound and matchless experience on parliamentary politics, procedure and administration. To allude that this man of great vision has seen it all in parliament is an understatement; he is indeed an institution on parliamentary issues. Having been returned for another four years and the first of its kind in APC, the only way the Senate and the nation can benefit immensely from his inestimable experience and his parliamentary father figure is to elect him to lead the 8th Senate. Lawan’s Senate presidency is simply an idea whose time has come.