Tinubu Extends Buba Marwa’s NDLEA Tenure to 2031

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the reappointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for another five-year term.

The renewal was announced in a statement on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

Marwa, who first assumed office in January 2021 after being appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, will now remain in office until 2031.

Marwa, an indigene of Adamawa State, previously served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020 before moving to the NDLEA.

He is a seasoned military officer and administrator who once governed Lagos and Borno States. A graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973.

Throughout his military career, he held several strategic positions, including brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, and academic registrar of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Marwa also served abroad as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC, and later as Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission at the United Nations.

His academic qualifications include a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.

These credentials, the Presidency noted, have shaped his administrative style and strengthened the agency’s anti-drug framework.

Since assuming leadership of the NDLEA, Marwa has overseen major breakthroughs in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.

His tenure has recorded the arrest of 73,000 drug mules and barons, alongside the seizure of over 15 million kilogrammes of narcotics ranging from cannabis to synthetic and hard drugs.

The agency has also intensified national drug abuse prevention campaigns across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

President Tinubu, in affirming Marwa’s reappointment, commended his record and urged him to intensify the fight against drug syndicates.

“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.