President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reappointed Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), extending his tenure for another five years.
Marwa was initially appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021, following his service as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020. With the new appointment, the Adamawa-born retired military officer will lead the NDLEA until 2031.
A former military governor of Lagos and Borno States, Marwa is an alumnus of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973, he went on to serve as brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to then Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma, and academic registrar of the NDA. He also held diplomatic defence roles at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Marwa holds postgraduate degrees in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and in public administration from Harvard University.
His leadership at the NDLEA has been marked by major operations, including the arrest of 73,000 drug traffickers and the seizure of more than 15 million kilogrammes of illicit substances. The agency has also intensified nationwide campaigns against drug abuse.
President Tinubu described the reappointment as a vote of confidence in Marwa’s efforts to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse, urging him to remain relentless in pursuing those engaged in the illegal drug trade.
The announcement was issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, on November 14, 2025.
