Tinubu Reappoints Marwa as NDLEA Chairman

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Mohammed Buba Marwa, has been reappointed by President Bola Tinubu.

The former Military Administrator of Lagos State has been asked to retain the position for another five-year term.

This information was confirmed in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Friday morning.

“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,” President Tinubu was quoted as saying in the statement.

Mr Marwa was first appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021, after serving as the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020.

The reappointment means the Adamawa-born former military officer will remain at the helm of the NDLEA until 2031.

Mr Marwa is a graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

After his commissioning as a second lieutenant in 1973, he served as brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to 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.