Marwa Retained as NDLEA Chairman for Another 5 Years

Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retired) will continue to lead the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) until 2031, following his reappointment as Chairman by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for another five-year term.

Persecondnews recalls that Tinubu took over from Marwa on May 29, 1999 as elected governor of Lagos State.

Marwa’s initial appointment came in January 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

His background includes serving as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to 2020.

The renewal secures the Adamawa native’s position at the head of the agency for the foreseeable future.

Marwa, a former military governor of Lagos and Borno States, is a graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA.

After his commissioning as a second lieutenant in 1973, Marwa 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.

He also served 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.

He 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).

His tenure in the NDLEA has been remarkable for many drug busts, including the arrests of 73,000 drug mules and barons and seizures of over 15 million kilogrammes of various hard drugs.

Under his leadership, the agency has also launched nationwide campaigns to address drug abuse.

Tinubu said in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy:
“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.”