President Tinubu Reappoints Mohammed Buba Marwa as NDLEA Chairman for Second Term

Tinubu Extends Marwa's Tenure at NDLEA

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for another five-year term. The reappointment, announced on November 14, 2025, by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, will see Marwa continue to lead the anti-narcotics agency until 2031.

President Tinubu lauded Marwa's performance, 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.'

Background and Previous Engagements

Mohammed Buba Marwa, who hails from Adamawa State, was initially appointed as the NDLEA Chairman by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021. Prior to his first term at the NDLEA, he served as the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020.

A distinguished military officer, Marwa is an alumnus of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1973 and held various strategic positions, including 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 NDA. His international service includes roles as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Defence Adviser to the Nigerian 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).

Achievements Under Marwa's Leadership

During his first tenure, the NDLEA recorded significant successes in its fight against drug trafficking and abuse across Nigeria. Key achievements highlighted by the State House include:

• The arrest of over 73,000 drug traffickers and barons.
• Seizures totaling more than 15 million kilogrammes of various illicit drugs.
• Securing over 12,000 convictions.
• Counselling and rehabilitation of over 8,200 drug users through demand-reduction programs.
• Intensified nationwide campaigns against drug abuse, such as the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.

These efforts have been widely acknowledged, with the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) describing his leadership as 'the most transformative and results-oriented in the history of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency'.

The Mandate of the NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is a federal law enforcement agency in Nigeria, established by Decree Number 48 of 1989. Its primary mandate is to eliminate the growing, processing, manufacturing, selling, exporting, and trafficking of hard drugs. The agency operates across international airports, seaports, and border crossings, and also targets leaders of narcotics and money laundering organizations. The NDLEA is also responsible for drug policy and control, curtailing illicit production, importation, exportation, sale, and trafficking of psychoactive substances, and engaging in preventive drug abuse activities, including advocacy, counselling, and rehabilitation.