Tinubu Reappoints Marwa as NDLEA Chairman, Extends Tenure to 2031

|By Chinwendu Nwani

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reappointed Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), handing him a fresh five-year mandate to continue the agency’s aggressive crackdown on drug trafficking and abuse.

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

Tinubu, in the statement, praised Marwa’s sweeping reforms and relentless operations, describing the renewal as “a vote of confidence” in his mission to rid Nigeria of hard drugs.

“Your reappointment is a vote of confidence in your onerous efforts to rid our country of the menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse,” the President said. “I urge you not to relent in tracking the merchants of hard drugs out to destroy our people, especially the young ones.”

First appointed in January 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, Marwa—an ex-military governor of Lagos and Borno States—has intensified Nigeria’s anti-narcotics war, leading operations that have produced over 73,000 arrests and seizures exceeding 15 million kilogrammes of hard drugs.

Before heading the NDLEA, he chaired the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to 2020. His new tenure means the Adamawa-born retired officer will continue to steer the agency until 2031.

Marwa, commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973, boasts a rich military and academic background. He served in notable defence roles, including Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Army Staff, brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, academic registrar of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), and Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and the United Nations.

He holds two advanced degrees: a Master of Public and International Affairs (University of Pittsburgh) and a Master of Public Administration (Harvard University).

Under his watch, the NDLEA has also expanded nationwide drug abuse awareness and prevention campaigns, earning both local and international commendation.