Gabriel Torwua Suswam (born 15 November 1964) is a Nigerian politician and former Governor of

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

. He represented Benue North-East Senatorial district in the 9th National Assembly of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Early life and education

Gabriel Suswam was born on 15 November 1964 in Anyiin,

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

Local Government Area of Benue State. In 1986, he was admitted into the Law Faculty of the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

. He obtained an LL.B degree in 1989, and the BL Certificate from the

Nigerian Law School The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up to provide professional certification to graduates of law. The school was established in Lagos under the Legal Education Act 1962, now Legal Education (Consolidation Etc) Act Cap. L1 ...

, Lagos in 1990. He was called to the Bar that year. He worked for other law firms from 1990 to 1994, while continuing his studies. In 1994 he launched his own law firm.

Political career

In the 1999 election, he ran for office in the House of Representatives for the

Katsina-Ala Katsina-Ala is a Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Katsina-Ala where the A344 highway starts. It is also the location of an important archeological site where artifacts of the Nok culture hav ...

Ukum Ukum is a Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. It has an area of and a population of 216,930 at the 2006 census. The biggest yam market in the world, Zaki Biam Yam Market, is located in Ukum, and Zaki Biam is also the biggest town in th ...

Federal Constituency, and was elected on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform. He was appointed Chairman of the House Services Committee, and later Chairman, House Committee on FCT. He ran again, and was reelected in 2003. On 3 July 2003, he was appointed Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, then in August, 2005 he was appointed Chairman, House Committee on Power. In April 2007 he was elected Governor of

. In November 2009, he spoke in favor of automatic re-election of all political office holders who exemplified themselves in the discharge of their responsibilities. In a separate interview, he said politicking was the major factor militating against the development of the state since its creation. Suswam ran for a second tenure in the 26 April 2011 gubernatorial elections on the PDP platform. He scored 590,776 votes, beating runner-up Professor Torkuma Ugba of the

Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger from the coming together of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of D ...

(ACN), who got 499,319 votes. On the 28 March 2015 general elections, Gabriel Torwua Suswam lost the senatorial seat election to Chief Barnabas Gemade of

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

(APC). In March 2024, Suswam declared intention to contest for the position of the chairmanship of the PDP.

Controversy

In 2024 Abubakar Umar, has narrated before the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, he converted the sum of ₦3.1 billion and delivered its equivalent of $15.8 Million in Cash to Suswan at his residence in Maitama. On 8 August ₦413 Million was send to Abubakar Umar Suswan tell him to change it into dollar he ask him to take the money to his house in Near Juma'at Mosque.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suswam, Gabriel Living people 1964 births Governors of Benue State People from Benue State Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria University of Lagos alumni Nigerian Law School alumni Members of the 4th National Assembly (Nigeria) Members of the 5th National Assembly (Nigeria) Senators of the 9th National Assembly (Nigeria)

Early life and education

Political career

Controversy

See also

References

Notes