Tinubu Reappoints Marwa as NDLEA Chairman for Another Five-Year Term

P President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the reappointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for another five-year tenure. The renewed appointment will keep Marwa at the helm of the nation’s lead anti-narcotics agency until 2031.

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 reappointment is seen as a continuation of the administration’s commitment to intensifying the war against drugs across the country.

A seasoned military officer and administrator, Marwa is an alumnus of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973, he held key 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 at the Nigerian Defence Academy. He also served as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and later as Defence Adviser at 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. He later became military governor of both Lagos and Borno States, earning a reputation for discipline and effective public administration.

Under his leadership, the NDLEA has recorded major victories in Nigeria’s anti-drug efforts. The agency has arrested over 73,000 drug traffickers and barons, and seized more than 15 million kilograms of narcotics. It has also intensified nationwide campaigns against drug abuse through advocacy, rehabilitation programmes and community-based interventions.

In a statement announcing the reappointment, President Tinubu praised Marwa’s performance and urged him to sustain the 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,” the President said.

The announcement was conveyed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, on November 14, 2025.