President Bola Tinubu has vowed that his administration "will go after" terrorism financiers, bandits, and foreign-linked mercenaries.

Legit.ng reports that Tinubu made this vow on Friday, December 19, 2025, while presenting the 2026 budget to a joint session of federal lawmakers at the National Assembly.

Tinubu vows to defeat terrorism

The Nigerian leader promised that his administration would defeat banditry and terrorism.

He said:

"Our administration is resetting the national security architecture and establishing a new national counterterrorism doctrine — a holistic redesign anchored on unified command, intelligence gathering, community stability, and counterinsurgency. This new doctrine will fundamentally change how we confront terrorism and other violent crimes.

"Under this new architecture, any armed group or gun-wielding non-state actors operating outside state authority will be regarded as terrorists.

"Bandits, militias, armed gangs, armed robbers, violent cults, forest-based armed groups and foreign-linked mercenaries will all be targeted. We will go after all those who perpetrate violence for political or sectarian ends, along with those who finance and facilitate their evil schemes."

President Tinubu: “Bandits, militias, armed gangs, armed robbers, violent cults, forest-based armed groups and foreign-linked mercenaries will all be targeted. We will go after all those who perpetrate violence for political or sectarian ends, along with those who finance and… pic.twitter.com/spljOFs9Cx

— Imran Muhammad (@Imranmuhdz) December 19, 2025