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 tenure for another five years.
Marwa, who first took office in January 2021 after being appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, will now continue to lead the agency until 2031. Before his initial appointment, he served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to 2020.
A former military 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 went on to hold several key military postings, including brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to then Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, and academic registrar of the NDA. He also served 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 two postgraduate degrees: a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.
His tenure at the NDLEA has been marked by significant achievements, including the arrest of more than 73,000 drug traffickers and barons, as well as the seizure of over 15 million kilogrammes of illegal drugs. The agency has also intensified nationwide anti-drug campaigns under 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,” President Tinubu said.
The announcement was made in a statement issued on Thursday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
