President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the reappointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), extending his leadership of the anti-narcotics agency for another five-year term.
Marwa, first appointed in January 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, previously chaired the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to 2020. His renewed tenure means he will remain in office until 2031.
A retired military officer and former governor of Lagos and Borno States, Marwa is a graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973, he served in several strategic military positions including Brigade Major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, and Academic Registrar of the NDA.
He also represented Nigeria abroad as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and later as Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Marwa holds a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.
Under his leadership, the NDLEA has recorded significant progress in combating drug trafficking, including the arrest of over 73,000 drug mules and barons and the seizure of more than 15 million kilogrammes of hard drugs. The agency has also expanded nationwide advocacy campaigns against drug abuse.
In a statement, President Tinubu commended Marwa’s dedication, describing his reappointment as “a vote of confidence” in his efforts to rid Nigeria of drug trafficking and addiction.
He urged the NDLEA chairman to remain relentless in “tracking the merchants of hard drugs out to destroy our people, especially the young ones.”
The reappointment was announced by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
