President Bola Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for another five-year term, the State House announced on Friday.
Marwa, first appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021, will now lead the agency until 2031.
Before his NDLEA tenure, he chaired the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020.
The reappointment was confirmed in a statement issued on November 14, 2025, by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
According to the statement, Marwa brings extensive military and administrative experience to the NDLEA. A graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973 and later served as brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, and academic registrar of the NDA.
His foreign service includes postings as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Marwa also holds two postgraduate 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 stewardship, the NDLEA has recorded significant breakthroughs. The State House noted numerous major drug busts, including the arrest of more than 73,000 drug mules and barons and the seizure of over 15 million kilogrammes of hard drugs. The agency has also intensified nationwide campaigns against drug abuse.
Tinubu commended Marwa’s performance, stating: “Your reappointment is a vote of confidence in your 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 who seek to destroy our people, especially the young ones.”
Marwa, a former military governor of Lagos and Borno States, will now be tasked with sustaining momentum and building on the gains of his first tenure.
The State House added that the renewed appointment “means the Adamawa-born former military officer will remain at the helm of the NDLEA until 2031.”
