President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Muhammad Abdalah as the new chairman/chief executive officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Abdalah is to replace Ahmadu Giade who retired from service as the agency’s boss after ten years of service.

The announcement of the NDLEA chairman is contained in a statement issuedon Monday by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, signed by its director of press, Bolaji Adebiyi.

The statement said that Abdalah’s appointment which is for a first tenure of five years took effect from Monday, January 11.

The new NDLEA chairman, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, has a 1977Certificate of Education from Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, and a Bachelor’s Degree in American Politics and Government from Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA (1989).

He also has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, LLB and LLM degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Bachelor of Law from the Nigeria Law School in 2006.

According to the statement, “Abdallah is a Professional Security Officer whose public service career spanned over 30 years during which he served in various capacities and strategic positions in the military. Born on November 13, 1954, Mr Abdallah is from Hong, Adamawa State.

Giade upon retirement in November last year had handed over the running of the agency to its director general, Roli George, who was appointed in June 2014.

The appointment of George, wife of prominent Lagos politician and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, Bode George, is believed to have caused a lot of division in the drug law enforcement agency, particularly senior officers who complained that she did not have enforcement experience.