NDLEA relocates to new headquarters in Abuja

The headquarters of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have formally moved to a new location in Abuja's Jahi neighbourhood.

With the help of the 2025 budgetary allowances, the project's first phase, which was launched during an interdenominational ceremony on Wednesday, should be finished.

Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy for the NDLEA, revealed this in a statement on Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa, the chairman and CEO of the NDLEA, spoke during the ceremony and called the action a critical milestone in the agency's history.

Marwa clarified that in order to support the agency's growth and enhance operations, the new headquarters were required.

"After initial budgetary constraints, I'm glad we have finally moved in to occupy this facility," he said. Despite the fact that this is the first phase of the new headquarters project, we are hopeful that we will be able to complete the process with next year’s budget.

“This is not 100% completed but it is sufficiently functional for us to move in because I was determined to move in before the end of 2024 because with the expansion of the Agency, the headquarters also expanded, and in our old location we could not accommodate everyone. I have had to post scores of officers due to a lack of space for them to work.

“It was for this reason that the management took a unanimous decision that since it was not 100% ready and we needed it, we should make it a low-key inauguration ceremony. This will enable us to relocate some of our directorates still operating outside Abuja into one facility to consolidate our operations for efficiency, effectiveness and seamless coordination.”

He added that the old head office in Gimbiya, Garki area of the FCT will continue to serve as the headquarters annex.

He thanked President Bola Tinubu for his continued support and encouragement to the agency to be in a position to achieve its mandate of curbing substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country.
Marwa said, "I think this new work environment will motivate you to surpass past feats. The support we are receiving from our international partners and local stakeholders, especially President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly, the Judiciary, and the citizenry, is not just to appreciate our efforts but to encourage us to do more."

Shadrach Haruna, the agency's secretary, praised Marwa in his welcome remarks for her inspirational leadership, which in just three years has elevated NDLEA to the level of its international peers in terms of professionalism, capability, and capacity.

"The commissioning of our headquarters today is part of the chairman's well-planned, incremental agenda for repositioning the Agency," Haruna stated. Since then, we have seen some incredible accomplishments since 2021, including increasing the staff strength of the Agency from 5,000 to 15,000. Promotion of officers, opening up of vacancies, payment of accumulated allowances to staff and widows of our fallen officers, the recent amendment of the Agency’s enabling law by the National Assembly, and many more.

Christian and Islamic prayers were offered for Tinubu and Nigeria while a commemorative plaque was unveiled to mark the event.