President Bola Tinubu has approved the reappointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.) as Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for another five years.
The renewal, confirmed by the State House on Friday, extends Marwa’s tenure until 2031, following the completion of his initial term. He was first appointed in January 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on November 14, 2025.
Onanuga described Marwa as a seasoned security professional with decades of military and administrative experience. Before his appointment as NDLEA boss, Marwa headed the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to 2020.
The statement highlighted Marwa’s extensive military career, including roles 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 Nigerian Defence Academy.”
He also served internationally as “Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and later as Defence Adviser to the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.”
Marwa 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 leadership, the NDLEA has recorded major breakthroughs in drug enforcement. According to the statement, the agency achieved “many drug busts, including the arrests of 73,000 drug mules and barons, and seizures of over 15 million kilogrammes of various hard drugs.” It also intensified nationwide campaigns against substance abuse.
President Tinubu praised Marwa’s performance, describing his reappointment as well-deserved.
“Your reappointment is a vote of confidence in your onerous efforts to rid our country of the menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse,” Tinubu said. “I urge you not to relent in tracking the merchants of hard drugs who seek to destroy our people, especially the young ones.”
A former military governor of Lagos and Borno States, Marwa is now tasked with sustaining momentum in Nigeria’s fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
The State House added that Marwa’s renewed tenure ensures continuity in the NDLEA’s strategic operations, noting that “the Adamawa-born officer will remain at the helm of the agency until 2031.”
