The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced that it has relocated its headquarters to a new facility in Abuja.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement that the new headquarters, located in the Jahi area of Abuja, is being developed in phases.
The facility, the first phase of the national headquarters project expected to be completed with the 2025 budgetary provisions, was officially unveiled yesterday during an interdenominational service within the complex.
Speaking during the brief ceremony, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd), the agency’s chairman/chief executive officer, said the development represents a phase in the transformation and recalibration of NDLEA into a modern and result-oriented anti-narcotic agency, a process that began in January 2021.
He said, “I am glad we have finally moved in to occupy this facility after initial budgetary constraints. Even though 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 per cent completed, but it is sufficiently functional for us to move in. We were determined to move in before the end of 2024 because with the agency’s expansion, 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 unanimously decided that since it was not 100 per cent ready and we needed it, we should make it a low-key inauguration ceremony. This will enable us to relocate some of our directorates operating outside Abuja into one facility to consolidate our operations for efficiency, effectiveness and seamless coordination”.
Babafemi further stated that while the old head office in Gimbiya, Garki area of the FCT will continue to serve as the headquarters annexe, the NDLEA boss expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for his continued support and encouragement of the agency to achieve its mandate of curbing substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country.
He said, “The support we are getting 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. I believe this new work environment will motivate you to surpass past feats.”
In his welcome remark, agency secretary Shadrach Haruna commended Marwa for providing inspiring leadership that has, in three years, transformed NDLEA into the same class as its counterparts across the world in terms of professionalism, capability, and capacity.
“The commissioning of our headquarters today is part of the incremental but well-laid agenda for the repositioning of the agency by the chairman. We have witnessed some monumental achievements since 2021, including increasing the staff strength of the Agency from 5,000 to 15,000. Promotion of officers, opening 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,” he said.
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