Tinubu Reappoints Mohammed Buba Marwa As NDLEA Chairman For Another Five-Year Term

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.

The announcement was contained in a statement issued on Friday, November 14, 2025, by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.

Marwa, who first assumed office in January 2021 after being appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, will now lead the NDLEA until 2031. His reappointment, according to the presidency, follows a period of transformative leadership marked by record-breaking drug seizures and aggressive anti-narcotics campaigns across the country.

Before his appointment as NDLEA chairman, Marwa headed the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse between 2018 and 2020. The former military governor of Lagos and Borno States is an alumnus of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973, Marwa’s military career included key roles such 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 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 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 recorded significant milestones, including the arrest of over 73,000 drug offenders and the seizure of more than 15 million kilogrammes of illicit substances. The agency has also intensified public advocacy campaigns aimed at reducing drug abuse nationwide.

President Tinubu, in his message, praised Marwa’s “onerous efforts” in combating drug trafficking and abuse, describing the renewed appointment as a “vote of confidence.”

“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.

Marwa’s next five years are expected to consolidate ongoing reforms and strengthen Nigeria’s fight against illicit drugs.