President Bola Tinubu has approved another five-year term for Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the State House announced on Friday.
Initially appointed in January 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, Marwa will now continue leading the agency up to 2031.
Before assuming leadership at the NDLEA, he headed the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse between 2018 and December 2020.
The confirmation came through 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 professional experience to the position. A product of both the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973 and subsequently served as “brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma, and academic registrar of the Nigerian Defence Academy.”
His international service record includes postings as “Deputy Defence Adviser in the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC, and later as Defence Adviser to the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.”
Marwa also holds advanced academic qualifications, including “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 achieved significant progress.
The State House statement noted “many drug busts, including the arrests of 73,000 drug mules and barons and seizures of over 15 million kilogrammes of various hard drugs.”
Additionally, the agency has led comprehensive nationwide sensitisation efforts aimed at curbing drug abuse.
President Tinubu praised Marwa’s contributions, stating: “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.”
A former military governor of both Lagos and Borno States, Marwa now faces the task of maintaining the progress recorded during his first term and strengthening the agency’s capacity.
The statement further emphasized that the renewed tenure “means the Adamawa-born former military officer will remain at the helm of the NDLEA until 2031.”