Senator Lawal Yahaya Gumau, a two-term senator from Bauchi who wanted to make Muhammadu Buhari a president for life through constitutional amendment has died at the age of 57.
Senator Gumau passed away at his residence in Abuja where he was reportedly planning to visit Bauchi this Saturday, according to a Facebook post by his aide, Musa Manga Muhammad.
His funeral prayer will hold at Gwarimpa Mosque in the Federal capital Territory, Abuja by 1pm after zuhr (noon) prayer on Saturday.
He was earlier a two-term member of the house of representative who represented the Toro federal constituency in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.
In 2018, he was elected a senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial district in a bye-election to fill the void created by the death of his predecessor, senator Ali Wakili. He served for only 10 months.
Senator Gumau was reelected into the red chamber in 2019 during the general election where he served until 2023 election. When he lost favour within his All Progressive congress (APC), he cross-carpeted to the opposition New Nigeria Peoples party (NNPP) where contested to return to the senate. He lost to his successor, Senator Buba Shehu of the APC.
Shortly before the governorship election, he decamped to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and supported Governor Bala Mohammed’s reelection.
While campaigning for senate in 2018, Senator Gumau vowed to pursue constitutional amendment to make president Buhari a president for life. However, he could not actualize this dream despite being in the senate for about five consecutive years.
Early Life and Education
Sen. Gumau was born on August 26th, 1968 in Gumau, Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State. He obtained his First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC) from Gumau Primary School in 1982. He then enrolled at Government Secondary School Gumau where he obtained a General Certificate of Examination (GCE) in 1987. He further obtained a diploma in 1989 from the Bauchi State Polytechnic and a Bachelor’s degree in 1994 from the University of Maiduguri, Borno State.
Achievement
Senator Gumau was a successful politician having won four successive elections that made him relevant in the national assembly for 13 consecutive years.
From member of the House of Representatives to represent Toro Constituency in 2011 and got re-elected in 2015 under the APC, he transited to the senate in 2018. His legislative interests include appropriation, finance and water resources. His reported achievements were providing constituency projects to his constituents. While in the National Assembly, he has served in numerous committees such as army, banking & currency, climate change, steel, agricultural production & services, and public accounts.
Controversies
His comments on making President Buhari a lifetime president was considered overzealous by many in trying to get elected using the then perceived influence of Buhari among the electorates.
Although he was aware of a failed attempt by President Obasanjo, he tried to reach out to diehard Buhari base in Bauchi which it appeared to have worked for him. The comment drew reactions from across the country.
WikkiTimes reported that senator Gumau alongside senator Adamu Bulkachuwa of Bauchi North took N249 million for dubious constituency projects. Gumau was directly linked to 80 million naira in the project.
The WikkiTimes investigation revealed that the duo had implemented questionable constituency projects marred by corruption tendencies.
Aside politicizing the projects, the two lawmakers only trained the beneficiaries for a few hours failed to provide start-up capital or working equipment to practice the trades for which they were supposedly trained.
In 2016, in an interview with Premium Times, as a house of reps. member, he confessed that the lawmakers often pad budget documents to insert certain projects every year in the lawmaking arm of government.
His ex-wife, Amina, reportedly used his office official letterhead to defraud a business associate in Bauchi to the tune of over 6 million naira. Amina was convicted by a Bauchi High court and jailed three years. She was, however, given an alternate fine of N30,000. Gumau then told WikkiTimes that he had divorced Amina years before the case including her conviction by a Bauchi High Court.
