President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the reappointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for a second five-year term.
Marwa, who was first appointed to the position in January 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, will now lead the anti-narcotics agency until 2031. His reappointment follows a period of significant advancements in Nigeria’s fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
A retired senior military officer and former military governor of Lagos and Borno States, Marwa previously chaired the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020. He is an alumnus of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy and holds postgraduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University.
His distinguished military and diplomatic career includes roles such as Brigade Major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to then Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma, Academic Registrar of the Nigerian Defence Academy, and Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Mission to the United Nations.
Marwa’s tenure at the NDLEA has been marked by major operational successes, including the arrest of over 73,000 drug offenders, among them several high-profile traffickers, and the seizure of more than 15 million kilogrammes of illicit substances. The agency has also intensified nationwide campaigns aimed at curbing drug abuse.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu described Marwa’s reappointment as “a vote of confidence” in his leadership.
“Your reappointment is a vote of confidence in your onerous efforts to rid our country of the menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse. I urge you not to relent in tracking the merchants of hard drugs out to destroy our people, especially the young ones,” the President said.
