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 another five-year term.
Marwa, who first assumed office in January 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, previously served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to 2020. His renewed appointment, announced in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media, Bayo Onanuga, extends his leadership of the NDLEA until 2031.
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 held several key military roles, including Brigade Major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to then Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma, and Registrar of the Nigerian Defence Academy.
He also served in diplomatic military positions, first 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.
Under his leadership, the NDLEA has intensified its anti-narcotics operations. The agency has arrested more than 73,000 suspected drug traffickers and dealers and seized over 15 million kilogrammes of illicit substances. It has also broadened its national campaign against drug abuse.
President Tinubu commended Marwa’s performance, describing his reappointment as “a vote of confidence” in his efforts to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse. He urged him to remain steadfast in tackling those behind the spread of hard drugs, particularly those targeting young people.