Nigeria's top general on Wednesday said the military did not have enough resources in its fight against terrorist groups and called on the country to strengthen its police force.

Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, tapped by President Bola Tinubu as the next chief of defence staff, was addressing the National Assembly in the capital Abuja as part of the Senate's screening process before his expected oath-taking on Thursday.

"We all know that resources are not enough," Oluyede told the Senate, saying that "makes it very difficult... to prosecute the war against terrorism, banditry."

Amid media reports of a recent coup plot, Tinubu reshuffled his top military brass last week.

Government denies coup plot

The Tinubu administration and the military have officially denied reports that at least 16 officers were arrested over an alleged coup plot, saying they had been arrested over disciplinary issues.

Nigeria has been battling terrorist groups in its northeast since Boko Haram's uprising in 2009, in a conflict that has spilt across borders and created deadly splinter groups.

Though violence has receded since its peak a decade ago, attacks continue, mostly in the countryside, where the military is overstretched.

Security forces also face a threat by "bandits" – heavily armed cattle-rustling and kidnapping gangs that have spread across rural swathes of northwest and central Nigeria.

Urges restructuring of police force

Oluyede said Nigeria, home to Africa's fourth-largest economy, should produce more arms and equipment locally to save costs.

In August, the United States approved a $346 million sale of bombs, rockets and munitions to Nigeria.

Oluyede also called on the country to "restructure the police force."

"Most of the job that is being done by the army, as we speak, actually lies within the purview of the police," Oluyede said.

Enemies who 'went to school'

"It is important for the nation to empower the police: make it stronger, make it more formidable, so that they can do their job, while we concentrate on defending Nigeria against external aggression."

Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, tapped as chief of air staff, meanwhile faced questions about the increasing use of drones by armed groups, which has been documented in Nigeria and across the Sahel

"The enemy you're fighting went to school," Aneke said, adding that terrorists should not be regarded as "rag-tag" fighters.

Tinubu's reshuffle of his top generals replaced chief of defence staff Christopher Musa with Oluyede, who had been chief of army staff.

Other appointments

Major General Waidi Shaibu is slated to be sworn in as chief of army staff. Rear Admiral Idi Abbas is tapped for chief of naval staff.

The chief of defence intelligence, Major General Emmanuel Akomaye Parker Undiandeye, retained his position.