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 State House confirmed on Friday.

Marwa, who was first appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021, will now remain at the helm of the agency until 2031.

Before his tenure at the NDLEA, he served as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020.

The announcement was confirmed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a press statement dated November 14, 2025.

According to the statement, Marwa brings decades of experience to the role. A graduate of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1973 and went on to serve 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 held key foreign postings, serving as “Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and later as Defence Adviser to the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.”

Marwa is highly accomplished academically, holding 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).

Under his leadership, the NDLEA has recorded remarkable achievements. The State House release highlighted “numerous drug busts, including the arrests of 73,000 drug mules and barons and the seizure of over 15 million kilogrammes of various hard drugs.” The agency has also championed nationwide campaigns against drug abuse.

Tinubu commended Marwa’s performance, saying: “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 who are out to destroy our people, especially the young ones.”

Marwa, a former military governor of Lagos and Borno States, now carries the responsibility of sustaining these gains and consolidating the progress made during his first tenure.

According to the State House release, the renewed appointment “means the Adamawa-born former military officer will remain at the helm of the NDLEA until 2031.”