President Bola Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for another five-year term, the Presidency confirmed yesterday.

Marwa, who first assumed the position in January 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, will now lead the agency until 2031.

Before his tenure at NDLEA, Marwa served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to 2020. He brings decades of military and public service experience to the role, having graduated from the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy. His military career includes appointments as Brigade Major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Army Staff, and Academic Registrar of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Marwa also served abroad as Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and later as Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Academically, he holds a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.

Under his leadership, the NDLEA has achieved significant milestones, including the arrest of over 73,000 drug mules and barons and the seizure of more than 15 million kilogrammes of hard drugs. The agency has also led nationwide campaigns against drug abuse.

President Tinubu, commending Marwa’s efforts, described the reappointment as “a vote of confidence in your dedication to eliminating drug trafficking and abuse in our nation.” He urged the NDLEA chief to intensify efforts against the trafficking of hard drugs, particularly those targeting the youth.

Marwa, a former military governor of Lagos and Borno States and an Adamawa indigene, now has the task of consolidating the gains of his first tenure while continuing to tackle drug-related crimes across the country.