2023–24 Nigeria Premier Football League

The 2023–24 Nigeria Premier Football League was the 53rd season of Nigeria's top-flight association football league, the 34th since attaining professionalism and the first under the current name.^[1] The season commenced on 30 September 2023 after initial delays.^[2][3]

Nigeria Premier Football League

Season	2023–24
Dates	30 September 2023 – 23 June 2024
Champions	Enugu Rangers (8th title)
Relegated	Sporting Lagos Doma United Heartland Gombe United
Champions League	Enugu Rangers Remo Stars
Confederation Cup	Enyimba
Matches played	380
Goals scored	848 (2.23 per match)
Top goalscorer	Chijioke Mbaoma (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Rivers United 6–0 Gombe United (15 June 2024)
Biggest away win	Heartland 1–5 Plateau United (28 February 2024)
Highest scoring	Bayelsa United 5–3 Akwa United (30 September 2023)
Longest winning run	Enugu Rangers (5 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Enugu Rangers (10 matches)
Longest winless run	Heartland (11 matches)
Longest losing run	Gombe United (6 matches)
← 2022–23 2024–25 → All statistics correct as of 23 June 2024.

Enyimba were the defending champions, after finishing top of the Championship round at the previous season.^[4] On 17 June 2024, Enugu Rangers won their eighth NPFL title with a game to spare.^[5]

This season sees the Interim Management Committee (IMC) entering into a partnership with technology firm GTI Investment, Propel Sports Africa and MTN to sponsor the league, with an exclusive broadcast right that shall cover eight live games every weekend and 300 throughout the season.^[6] Thus, this makes the NPFL the first African football league to deploy artificial intelligence at games.^[7]

This season also sees an increase of N50 million in prize money for the champions.^[3] Also, The NPFL secured $1 Billion Broadcast sponsorship deal with Chinese satellite provider StarTimes, for five years.^[8]

Teams

Twenty teams are competing in the league – the top sixteen teams from the previous season and the four teams promoted from the Nigeria National League. The promoted teams are Heartland, Sporting Lagos, Kano Pillars and Katsina United. This is Sporting Lagos's first season in the Nigeria Professional Football League. With their promotion, Sporting Lagos became the first team to have been promoted after the first season of their creation. Heartland, Katsina United and Kano Pillars also returned to the top-flight after getting relegated two seasons ago. They replaced Wikki Tourists, Nasarawa United, El-Kanemi Warriors and Dakkada, who were relegated to the Nigeria National League.

Teams information

Sporting Lagos

Kano Pillars

Abia Warriors

Katsina United

Remo

Plateau United

Bayelsa United

Insurance

Lobi Stars

Akwa United

Kwara United

Sunshine

Enugu Rangers

Aba

Heartland

Rivers United

3SC

Niger Tornadoes

Gombe United
Doma United

Aba team:
Enyimba

Locations of the 2023–24 Nigeria Premier Football League teams

Team	Location	Kit Supplier	Shirt Sponsor	Stadium	Capacity
Abia Warriors	Umuahia	Owu	Eunisell	Umuahia Township Stadium Enyimba International Stadium[lower-alpha 1]	5,000
Akwa United	Uyo	Owu	1xBet	Godswill Akpabio Stadium Eket Stadium	30,000 18,000
Bayelsa United	Yenagoa	GDF	_	Samson Siasia Stadium	5,000
Bendel Insurance	Benin City	Fourteen	Sterling Bank	Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium	12,000
Doma United	Gombe	Cone Sport	_	Pantami Stadium	12,000
Enugu Rangers	Enugu	Cone Sport	Afrinvest,Shopurban, Senior Barman	Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium	22,000
Enyimba	Aba	KK	Stake.com, United Nigeria Airlines	Enyimba International Stadium	16,000
Gombe United	Gombe	Cone Sport	_	Pantami Stadium	12,000
Heartland	Owerri	_	_	Dan Anyiam Stadium Awka City Stadium[lower-alpha 2]	10,000
Kano Pillars	Kano	Play	Rambo	Sani Abacha Stadium	16,000
Katsina United	Katsina	Owu	_	Muhammadu Dikko Stadium	35,000
Kwara United	Ilorin	Owu	_	Kwara State Stadium	18,000
Lobi Stars	Makurdi	Owu	_	Lafia Township Stadium[lower-alpha 3]	10,000
Niger Tornadoes	Minna	Cone Sport	_	Ahmadu Bello Stadium [lower-alpha 4]	16,000
Plateau United	Jos	Kapspor	_	New Jos Stadium	60,000
Remo Stars	Ikenne	Cone Sport	Bet9ja	Remo Stars Stadium	5,000
Rivers United	Port Harcourt	Owu	_	Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium	40,000
Shooting Stars	Ibadan	Cone Sport	Peculiar	Adamasingba Stadium	10,000
Sporting Lagos	Lagos	Umbro	Klasha, Choplife	Onikan Stadium	10,000
Sunshine Stars	Akure	Cone Sport	_	Akure Township Stadium	5,000

1. Abia Warriors played some of their games at Aba as their original stadium failed to meet the requirements.
2. Heartland played their second round games at Awka.^[9]
3. Lobi Stars played their home matches at Lafia Township Stadium, Lafia instead of Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi due to renovation works.^[10]
4. Niger Tornadoes home stadium was not approved, so they play in their adopted home in Kaduna.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Enugu Rangers (C)	38	21	7	10	56	33	+23	70	Qualification for the Champions League
2	Remo Stars	38	20	5	13	53	39	+14	65
3	Enyimba	38	19	6	13	46	33	+13	63	Qualification for the Confederation Cup
4	Shooting Stars	38	18	8	12	48	34	+14	62
5	Plateau United	38	18	4	16	53	40	+13	58
6	Lobi Stars	38	17	7	14	48	45	+3	58
7	Katsina United	38	15	10	13	42	39	+3	55
8	Rivers United	38	15	8	15	51	42	+9	53
9	Bendel Insurance	38	14	11	13	32	30	+2	53
10	Sunshine Stars	38	13	13	12	37	37	0	52
11	Kano Pillars	38	15	7	16	49	50	−1	52
12	Abia Warriors	38	15	7	16	42	45	−3	52
13	Kwara United	38	12	15	11	38	37	+1	51
14	Niger Tornadoes	38	14	9	15	38	41	−3	51
15	Bayelsa United	38	13	11	14	46	50	−4	50
16	Akwa United	38	14	7	17	44	42	+2	49
17	Sporting Lagos (R)	38	12	10	16	39	44	−5	46	Relegation to the National League
18	Doma United (R)	38	11	11	16	26	42	−16	44
19	Heartland (R)	38	9	11	18	36	50	−14	38
20	Gombe United[lower-alpha 1] (R)	38	8	7	23	21	78	−57	25

Source: NPFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Gombe United were deducted 6 points and 6 goals.^[11][12]

Results

Home \ Away	ABW	AKW	BAY	BEN	DOM	ENU	ENY	GOM	HEA	KAN	KAT	KWA	LOB	NIG	PLA	REM	RIV	3SC	SPL	SUN
Abia Warriors		2–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	3–2	1–1	0–0
Akwa United	3–1		0–1	3–1	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–0	2–0	3–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	4–1	0–0	3–2	3–1	0–0	0–0	0–0
Bayelsa United	2–2	5–3		2–0	2–0	2–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	3–2	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–1
Bendel Insurance	1–0	0–0	0–2		4–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–3	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	1–0
Doma United	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–0		0–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–1
Enugu Rangers	3–2	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–1		3–0	4–1	2–0	4–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0
Enyimba	2–1	3–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–1		4–0	1–0	5–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	2–0	0–1	4–1	1–0	2–0	1–0
Gombe United	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–3	1–2	2–0		2–0	2–5	1–0	1–2	3–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2
Heartland	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	3–1	1–2	0–1	3–0		1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–0	1–5	3–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–1
Kano Pillars	0–1	1–0	3–0	0–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	4–0	2–1		1–0	2–1	3–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	5–1
Katsina United	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	4–3	2–1	4–0	1–1	3–2		1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	3–2
Kwara United	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	4–0	2–0	1–1		0–2	0–0	2–1	3–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–0
Lobi Stars	2–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	4–3		1–0	2–1	3–2	3–2	2–1	1–0	3–2
Niger Tornadoes	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–2	0–0	5–0	3–2	1–0	0–0	1–1	3–2		2–3	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–1
Plateau United	3–1	1–2	5–1	2–0	4–0	2–1	1–0	4–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–0		1–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–0
Remo Stars	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	4–0	4–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	3–0	1–0		2–1	3–0	2–1	2–0
Rivers United	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	2–0	6–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	3–2	3–1	2–0		1–0	4–1	1–1
Shooting Stars	4–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	2–1	2–0	1–0		1–0	2–0
Sporting Lagos	4–2	2–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	4–1	1–0	2–2		1–0
Sunshine Stars	2–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0

Source: NPFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Abia Warriors	5	12	3	10	5	8	5	9	12	7	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	9	10	11	11	10	8	10	10	10	10	9	11	12	11	11	12	13	14	13	10	12
Akwa United	19	18	20	20	20	16	17	18	17	18	17	18	16	17	18	19	16	18	16	16	19	19	18	19	17	18	17	18	18	18	18	18	15	14	15	14	16	16
Bayelsa United	1	6	13	19	11	17	19	19	18	19	19	20	17	20	19	20	20	19	19	18	16	14	15	15	18	15	18	15	15	15	17	16	18	18	17	16	15	15
Bendel Insurance	10	3	1	5	9	13	7	7	6	8	6	7	5	7	4	7	6	7	7	8	8	9	10	8	9	9	9	10	10	8	9	8	10	7	9	7	9	9
Doma United	14	4	8	14	16	18	12	4	1	3	2	3	2	3	2	3	3	4	3	6	7	8	9	11	12	13	13	11	12	13	14	15	17	16	18	18	18	18
Enugu Rangers	3	7	2	3	1	3	2	3	5	6	9	12	12	10	9	9	9	10	8	7	6	4	3	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Enyimba	11	20	14	18	18	19	16	17	8	5	4	5	4	5	5	4	4	5	5	3	4	1	5	2	5	3	4	2	4	2	2	3	2	2	2	3	3	3
Gombe United	20	9	15	6	4	6	11	15	14	16	16	17	14	15	12	14	13	15	18	19	17	18	17	18	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20
Heartland	8	17	19	17	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	20	18	20	17	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19
Kano Pillars	16	11	18	9	14	5	10	8	13	13	7	4	8	6	7	6	5	6	4	5	3	6	6	6	6	7	6	8	8	9	8	10	9	10	10	10	12	11
Katsina United	6	13	12	13	8	15	14	11	11	12	14	15	16	11	15	11	12	8	9	9	9	7	7	7	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	7	8	7	7
Kwara United	17	14	11	12	11	12	15	14	16	9	11	13	13	14	11	12	14	16	13	14	13	16	16	17	15	17	15	16	16	14	12	14	11	11	13	11	13	13
Lobi Stars	9	2	7	2	6	2	1	1	2	1	3	2	3	2	3	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	3	3	5	5	5	5	6	6	6
Niger Tornadoes	18	15	16	7	12	15	18	16	19	17	18	16	19	19	16	18	15	14	17	17	15	17	19	16	14	16	14	12	9	10	10	12	13	12	12	12	14	14
Plateau United	15	10	17	8	13	7	8	6	7	10	12	10	6	4	6	5	7	3	6	4	5	3	2	3	2	4	5	5	5	6	4	6	6	6	6	5	5	5
Remo Stars	12	5	5	1	3	1	4	2	4	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	5	4	5	4	5	3	4	3	4	5	2	3	3	3	2	2	2
Rivers United	13	19	9	15	10	10	9	12	10	15	15	15	18	16	17	16	17	13	12	10	10	12	13	14	16	14	16	17	17	17	15	9	8	9	8	9	8	8
Shooting Stars	4	16	4	4	2	4	3	5	3	4	5	6	7	9	10	13	10	11	11	12	12	11	11	9	7	6	8	6	6	5	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Sporting Lagos	2	1	6	11	7	9	6	10	9	14	10	9	10	12	14	15	18	17	15	13	14	13	12	12	13	11	11	13	13	11	13	13	14	17	16	17	17	17
Sunshine Stars	7	8	10	16	17	14	13	13	15	11	13	11	11	11	13	10	11	12	14	15	18	15	14	13	11	12	12	14	14	16	16	17	16	15	11	15	11	10

	Leader
	Champions League
	Confederation Cup
	Relegation to Nigeria National League

Source: World Football

Statistics

Top scorers

As of 23 June 2024

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Chijioke Mbaoma	Enyimba	17
2	Sikiru Alimi	Remo Stars	15
3	Albert Hilary	Plateau United	12
	Jonathan Alukwu	Sporting Lagos
	Godwin Obaje	Enugu Rangers
	Hashiri Usman	Niger Tornadoes
7	Ibrahim Mustapha	Kano Pillars	11
	Sani Suleiman	Akwa United
	Ubong Friday
11	Robert Mizo	Bayelsa United	10
	Rabiu Ali	Kano Pillars
	Michael Okoro Ibe	Katsina United
	Christian Pyagbara	Shooting Stars

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Score	Date	Ref(s)
Robert Mizo	Bayelsa United	Akwa United	5–3 (H)	30 September 2023	[13]
Yusuf Abdullahi5	Kano Pillars	Gombe United	5–2 (A)	3 December 2023	[14]
Albert Hilary	Plateau United	Bayelsa United	5–1 (H)	17 December 2023	[15]
Nyima Nwagua	Rivers United	Doma United	3–2 (H)	18 February 2024	[16]

Notes

⁵ Player scored 5 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month		Manager of the Month		Ref.
	Player	Club	Manager	Club
September/October	Robert Mizo	Bayelsa United	Daniel Ogunmodede	Remo Stars	[17]
November	Kingdom Osayi	Doma United	Akinade Onigbinde	Doma United	[18]
December	Albert Hilary	Plateau United	Mbwas Mangut	Plateau United	[19]
February	Ibrahim Mustapha	Kano Pillars	Meremu Okara	Bayelsa United	[20]
March	Sani Suleiman	Akwa United	Fidelis Ilechukwu	Enugu Rangers	[21]
April	Clinton Jephta	Niger Tornadoes	Gbenga Ogunbote	Shooting Stars	[22]

References

1. "NFF approves NPFL name change". Dailypost.ng. 10 September 2023.
2. "2023–24 NPFL season finally set to begin on September 30 after delays". National Trial Online. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
3. "NPFL announces September 30 kick off date, N150 million prize money for champions". Prime Business Africa. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
4. "NPFL: Enyimba Draw With Rivers Utd To Win Record Ninth Title – Channels Television".
5. "Enugu Rangers won eighth NPFL title". The Punch. 16 June 2024.
6. "MTN to co-sponsor Nigerian football league with GTI, Propel Sports Africa". Premium Times Nigeria. 20 September 2023.
7. "GTI unveils AI cameras for NPFL coverage". The Punch. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
8. "NPFL, StarTimes sign N1.6bn 5-year television sponsorship deal". The Sun. 3 November 2023.
9. Adesanya, Taiwo (1 February 2024). "Heartland adopt Awka City Stadium as new home ground". dailypost.ng.
10. "Lobi Stars adopt Lafia City Stadium as home ground for new season". Daily Post. 19 September 2023.
11. "Gombe docked three points, fined N2.5M". punchng.com. 9 January 2024.
12. "NPFL:Gombe United docked 3 points for assault on match officials". leadership.ng. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
13. "Mizo hat-trick as goals rain flood Yenagoa". Punchng.com. 1 October 2023.
14. "Kano Pillars Yusuf nets 5 goals, secures win against Gombe United". leadership.ng. 3 December 2023.
15. "NPFL: Plateau's Hilary bags hat-trick in Bayelsa rout". Punchng.com. 18 December 2023.
16. "Nwagua bags hattrick in thrilling Rivers win". The Punch. 19 February 2024.
17. "Ogunmodede, Mizo scoop NPFL awards". Punchng.com. 12 November 2023.
18. "NPFL 24:Doma United duo Onigbinde, Osayi scoop monthly awards". Royaltimes. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
19. "Plateau United's Hilary,Mangut win NPFL Player, Coach of the month award". dailypost.ng. 16 January 2024.
20. "Mustapha,Okara win NPFL player,coach of the month award". dailypost.ng. 13 March 2024.
21. Taiwo, Adesanya (7 April 2024). "Suleiman, Ilechukwu win NPFL Player, Coach of the Month award for March". dailypost.ng.
22. Adesanya, Taiwo (11 May 2024). "Clinton Jephta, Ogunbote win NPFL Player, Coach of the Month award". dailypost.ng.