Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has charged political parties on the need to include drug integrity tests into their screening requirements for aspirants seeking to contest for political offices ahead of the 2023 elections.
Marwa stated this while fielding questions from journalists at the 2022 First Quarter Best Performing Commands Awards ceremony at the Agency’s national headquarters in Abuja Wednesday 27th, 2022.
According to him, “for politicians, we have long advocated and I take the opportunity again to repeat the advocacy that when they run for public office it demands a lot of responsibility from the person and we need to be certain if he’s a person that is already a drug addict/user who will spend all the money he’s given for public service to consume cocaine and his head will not be in a stable condition to handle the affairs he has been entrusted with. For this reason, we have advocated and will continue to advocate that drug test be conducted for politicians; some state governments like Kano state is already doing this.
“Not just politicians, but government appointees, and I’ve just sent a letter this morning to the National Chairman of APC, who will be the first of the national working committee I wish to pay an advocacy visit on this issue. I recommended that drug tests be incorporated in the screening process for all those interested in running for public office; we’ll do the same to the PDP and other important parties.”
Addressing officers and men of the Agency pre
“Statistics from the first quarter (Q1) report, indicated that our performance level has not dropped off. Indeed, achieving 3, 539 arrests, 677 convictions, and seizures of 65, 916 kg of drugs in three months is no mean feat. Little wonder our performance continually earns the Agency deserved accolades from the right quarters within the country as well as from abroad, especially from international partners and peers. While we have not yet achieved the utopia of a drug-free society, the results showed that we are getting it right.
Therefore, we should all be mindful that we hold the fate of NDLEA in our hands, and that fate will be determined by our patriotism and dedication to duty, as well as our collective resolve to work towards the attainment of the Agency’s mandate.
There is much we can achieve when our communities are working hand-in-hand with us. That is why our roadmap, the NDCMP 2021-2025, strongly emphasizes collaboration with all the stakeholders in society. We have to woo members of society to work with us on this very important assignment. Therefore, I charge you to ensure that WADA is correctly and deeply entrenched in the spheres of operation of your respective commands”
The agency believes every kilo of drugs seized guarantees a safer street and society, hence they will continue to intensify efforts until the country is free from drugs.
