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

President Bola Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), extending his tenure for another five years, until 2031.

Marwa, an indigene of Adamawa State, was first appointed in January 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari. Before leading the NDLEA, he served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse between 2018 and 2020.

His reappointment was announced in a statement issued on November 14, 2025, by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

President Tinubu described the decision as an endorsement of Marwa’s achievements in Nigeria’s fight against drug trafficking and abuse.

“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,” Tinubu said.

Marwa, a former military governor of Lagos and Borno states, is a graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973, he went on to serve as Brigade Major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to then Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, and later as Academic Registrar of the NDA.

He also held key diplomatic postings, including Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and 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.

Since assuming office, Marwa has overseen far-reaching reforms and operations that strengthened the NDLEA’s capabilities. Under his leadership, the agency recorded the arrest of over 73,000 suspected drug traffickers and barons and seized more than 15 million kilogrammes of assorted hard drugs.

He also spearheaded nationwide anti-drug campaigns focused on prevention, rehabilitation, and community engagement.

Marwa is expected to continue driving aggressive enforcement strategies and public enlightenment initiatives over the next half-decade as Nigeria intensifies its battle against drug abuse.