Marwa to head NDLEA until 2031 as Tinubu renews appointment

President Bola Tinubu on Friday approved a second five-year term for Brigadier-General (rtd.) Mohammed Buba Marwa as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, extending his tenure through 2031.

Marwa, an Adamawa-born retired military officer, was first appointed to lead the NDLEA in January 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari. Prior to that, he chaired the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse between 2018 and December 2020.

Tinubu’s decision was announced on Friday, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. The President described the renewal as an expression of confidence in Marwa’s leadership and the agency’s ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking and abuse.

“Your reappointment is a vote of confidence in your 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,” Tinubu said.

Marwa has held several high-profile roles in the military and in public service. A former military governor of Lagos and Borno states, he is a graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973. His military career includes serving as 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 later served in diplomatic positions as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC, and Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Marwa also holds advanced degrees in public policy: 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 reports the arrest of over 73,000 drug couriers and 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 during his tenure.