Tinubu reappoints Marwa as NDLEA chairman for five more years

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

President Bola Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), extending his leadership for another five-year term until 2031. The announcement was made in a statehouse press release on Friday, November 14, 2025.

Marwa, who hails from Adamawa State, was initially appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021. Prior to leading the NDLEA, he served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse between 2018 and December 2020.

The reappointment marks continued trust in Marwa’s ability to steer Nigeria’s fight against drug trafficking and abuse. President Tinubu praised his efforts and urged him to sustain the agency’s momentum.

“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.

Marwa’s distinguished career includes service as a former military governor of Lagos and Borno States. He is an alumnus of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy, commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973. Over his military career, he held key positions such as brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to former Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma, and academic registrar at the NDA.

Marwa also served diplomatically as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC, and Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Academically, he holds two master’s degrees: a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh (1983–85) and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University (1985–86).

Under his leadership, the NDLEA has recorded notable achievements, including the arrest of over 73,000 drug traffickers and the seizure of more than 15 million kilograms of illicit drugs. The agency has also intensified nationwide campaigns to educate the public and combat drug abuse.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, reaffirmed the administration’s support for Marwa’s mission to protect Nigerian youth and communities from the dangers of drug abuse.