2024–25 Nigeria Premier Football League

The 2024–25 Nigeria Premier Football League is the 54th season of Nigeria's top-flight association football league, and the 35th since attaining professionalism and the first under the current name. The season commenced early on 31 August 2024 with the defending champions, Enugu Rangers hosting El-Kanemi Warriors.^[1][2]

Nigeria Premier Football League

Season	2024–25
Dates	31 August 2024 – TBD 2025
Matches played	187
Goals scored	358 (1.91 per match)
Top goalscorer	Anas Yusuf (10 goals)
Highest scoring	Nasarawa United 3–4 El-Kanemi Warriors (21 September 2024) Enugu Rangers 3–4 Kano Pillars (16 October 2024)
Longest winning run	Shooting Stars (5 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	El-Kanemi Warriors (10 matches)
Longest winless run	Enyimba (7 matches)
Longest losing run	Nasarawa United (4 matches)
← 2023–24 2025–26 → All statistics correct as of 31 December 2024.

This season also sees an increase of N50 million in prize money for the champions from the previous season, with the winners taking home N200 million.^[3] Additionally, the NPFL secured a sponsorship deal with British multinational television production company, IMG/JVco for broadcast of league games.^[4]

Teams

Changes from previous season

Twenty teams, consisting of the top sixteen teams from the previous season and four promoted teams from the Nigeria National League, are competing in the league. The promoted teams are Nasarawa United and El-Kanemi Warriors who both got relegated two seasons ago, and newcomers Ikorodu City and Beyond Limits. Beyond Limits would be subsequently replaced by Heartland who were initially relegated the previous season as Beyond Limits and Remo Stars share the same owners.^[5]

Promoted from 2023–24 National League	Relegated to 2024–25 National League
Nasarawa United El-Kanemi Warriors Ikorodu City Beyond Limits	Sporting Lagos Doma United Heartland (spared) Gombe United

Teams information

Ikorodu City

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

Shooting Stars

Niger Tornadoes

Nasarawa United

El-Kanemi Warriors

Aba team:
Enyimba

Locations of the 2024–25 Nigeria Premier Football League teams

Team	Location	Kit Supplier	Shirt Sponsor	Stadium	Capacity
Abia Warriors	Umuahia	Owu	Eunisell	Umuahia Township Stadium	5,000
Akwa United	Uyo	Owu	1xBet	Godswill Akpabio Stadium	30,000
Bayelsa United	Yenagoa	GDF	_	Samson Siasia Stadium	5,000
Bendel Insurance	Benin City	Fourteen	Sterling Bank	Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium	12,000
El-Kanemi Warriors	Maiduguri			El-Kanemi Stadium	10,000
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
Heartland	Owerri	_	_	Dan Anyiam Stadium	10,000
Ikorodu City	Ikorodu, Lagos		BetKing	Onikan Stadium	10,000
Kano Pillars	Kano	Play	Rambo	Muhammadu Dikko Stadium[a]	35,000
Katsina United	Katsina	Owu	_
Kwara United	Ilorin	Owu	22bet	Kwara State Stadium	18,000
Lobi Stars	Makurdi	Owu	_	Lafia Township Stadium[b]	10,000
Nasarawa United	Lafia
Niger Tornadoes	Minna	Cone Sport	_	Bako Kontagora Stadium	5,000
Plateau United	Jos	Kapspor	_	New Jos Stadium	44,000
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	Lekan Salami Stadium	15,000
Sunshine Stars	Akure	Cone Sport	_	Dipo Dina International Stadium[c]	20,000

1. Kano Pillars temporarily play at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina as their home stadium Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano is undergoing renovation works.^[6]
2. Lobi Stars play their home matches at Lafia Township Stadium, Lafia instead of their regular home ground Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi due to renovation works.^[7]
3. Sunshine Stars play their home games at Dipo Dina International Stadium, Ijebu-Ode rather than their regular home ground, Akure Township Stadium, Akure due to renovation works.^[8]

Managerial changes

Not including interim management.

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of departure	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Nasarawa United	Usman Adams	Sacked	31 August 2024	Kabiru Dogo	3 August 2024[9]
Kwara United	Kabiru Dogo	Moved to Nasarawa United	31 August 2024	Tunde Sanni	31 August 2024[10]
Lobi Stars	Eugene Agagbe	Sacked	6 October 2024	Daniel Amokachi	6 October 2024[11]
Ikorodu City	Bright Ozebagbe	Resignation[12]	6 October 2024	Nurudeen Aweroro	22 October 2024[13]
Sunshine Stars	Kennedy Boboye	Resignation	11 November 2024[14]	Abubakar Bala	11 December 2024[15]
Bendel Insurance	Monday Odigie	Resignation	22 November 2024[16]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Remo Stars	19	11	3	5	23	12	+11	36	Qualification for the Champions League
2	Rivers United	19	9	7	3	19	11	+8	34
3	Shooting Stars	19	10	3	6	18	13	+5	33	Qualification for the Confederation Cup
4	Enugu Rangers	19	8	7	4	18	11	+7	31
5	El-Kanemi Warriors	19	7	8	4	19	18	+1	29
6	Ikorodu City	19	8	4	7	25	20	+5	28
7	Abia Warriors	19	8	3	8	17	21	−4	27
8	Kano Pillars	18	7	4	7	21	22	−1	25
9	Enyimba	16	5	9	2	14	9	+5	24
10	Niger Tornadoes	19	6	6	7	20	21	−1	24
11	Bayelsa United	18	6	6	6	15	18	−3	24
12	Kwara United	18	6	5	7	17	16	+1	23
13	Katsina United	19	6	5	8	13	15	−2	23
14	Heartland	19	5	7	7	17	20	−3	22
15	Sunshine Stars	19	6	3	10	13	22	−9	21
16	Bendel Insurance[a]	19	6	6	7	17	20	−3	21
17	Plateau United[b]	19	6	5	8	18	21	−3	20	Relegation to the National League
18	Lobi Stars	19	5	5	9	16	24	−8	20
19	Akwa United	20	5	4	11	16	22	−6	19
20	Nasarawa United	18	5	4	9	16	22	−6	19

Updated to match(es) played on 31 December 2024. Source: NPFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Notes:

1. Bendel Insurance were deducted 3 points and 3 goals.^[17]
2. Plateau United were deducted 3 points and 3 goals.^[18]

Results

Home \ Away	ABW	AKW	BAY	BEN	ELK	ENU	ENY	HEA	IKR	KAN	KAT	KWA	LOB	NAS	NIG	PLA	REM	RIV	3SC	SUN
Abia Warriors							1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–0			2–1		0–2
Akwa United	1–1			1–1		0–0		2–0		2–0		2–1		1–0		1–0				1–2
Bayelsa United	0–1	2–1					1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1			4–1	1–0
Bendel Insurance	0–1		3–0		1–1					0–1		3–1	1–0			2–1		0–0	1–0
El-Kanemi Warriors	3–0	1–0	0–0				1–0	0–0		1–0	1–0	1–1			1–0	2–2
Enugu Rangers	1–0		1–0	3–2	0–0					3–4			3–0	2–0				1–0	0–1
Enyimba		1–0		0–0		0–0			2–1		3–0		2–1		1–1		0–0			0–0
Heartland				1–1		0–0	1–3		1–1		0–0			3–2	2–0		1–0			1–0
Ikorodu City		4–1		3–0	2–0	0–1							4–2	1–2			1–1	2–0	2–1	2–1
Kano Pillars								2–2	3–0		1–0	1–1			2–1	2–1	0–2			2–0
Katsina United		1–0		2–1		0–0			1–2				3–0	1–0	1–1		2–0	0–0		1–0
Kwara United						1–1		1–0	0–0		1–0				1–2	2–0	1–0			3–0
Lobi Stars	3–1	0–0	2–1		2–2			0–0		2–2		1–0				1–0		0–1	1–0
Nasarawa United	3–0		0–0	2–1	3–4					1–0		0–1	1–0					1–1	1–1
Niger Tornadoes		1–0		1–1		0–1			0–0				1–1	0–0			2–1	0–1	2–0	4–1
Plateau United						0–0	0–0	3–2	1–0		1–0			2–0	1–2		3–1			3–0
Remo Stars		2–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–1							1–0	3–0				0–0	2–0	1–0
Rivers United	1–0	2–1	0–1		1–1		2–0	3–1		1–0		2–1				1–1			2–0
Shooting Stars	2–0	2–1	1–0		3–0		0–0	1–0		2–0	1–0	1–0		1–0		1–1
Sunshine Stars	0–0		3–0	1–2	1–0	1–0							1–0					1–1	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on 31 December 2024. 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
Abia Warriors	18	16	14	13	15	9	14	10	5	9	13	13	15	11	14	11	12	10	7
Akwa United	11	10	12	16	19	16	19	18	20	19	20	16	18	17	19	19	20	17	19
Bayelsa United	19	17	18	17	18	15	18	16	18	18	15	14	16	13	13	10	8	9	11
Bendel Insurance	13	15	16	11	12	14	11	14	15	11	16	20	19	20	18	18	19	15	15
El-Kanemi Warriors	14	14	6	8	10	10	13	5	6	4	7	5	3	4	5	6	5	5	5
Enugu Rangers	9	12	7	7	4	5	7	8	9	5	6	4	5	3	4	3	3	4	4
Enyimba	3	6	4	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	6	6	7	9	12	9
Heartland	17	20	20	18	16	18	15	19	16	12	9	10	11	12	10	13	11	13	14
Ikorodu City	20	19	19	20	20	20	20	17	19	17	12	8	7	5	3	4	6	6	6
Kano Pillars	1	2	8	14	7	11	6	6	13	8	5	6	6	8	11	8	10	7	8
Katsina United	16	8	10	6	9	8	5	9	10	13	17	15	12	15	12	14	14	16	13
Kwara United	15	18	15	15	13	17	12	11	12	16	11	7	10	7	9	12	13	11	12
Lobi Stars	10	13	17	19	17	19	17	20	17	20	19	19	17	19	16	20	15	19	18
Nasarawa United	8	11	13	9	11	13	10	13	8	14	18	18	20	18	20	16	17	18	20
Niger Tornadoes	5	4	3	4	6	6	8	12	14	7	4	9	8	9	8	9	7	8	10
Plateau United	6	5	9	10	5	7	4	7	4	6	8	17	14	16	17	15	16	20	17
Remo Stars	4	1	1	1	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	1
Rivers United	12	3	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	2
Shooting Stars	7	9	11	12	14	12	16	15	11	15	10	12	9	10	7	5	4	3	3
Sunshine Stars	2	7	5	5	8	4	9	4	7	10	14	11	13	14	15	17	18	14	16

	Leader
	Qualification for the Champions League
	Qualification for the Confederation Cup
	Relegation to Nigeria National League

Updated to match(es) played on 31 December 2024. Source: World Football

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 31 December 2024

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Anas Yusuf	Nasarawa United	10
2	Rabiu Ali	Kano Pillars	8
3	Ibrahim Mustapha	El-Kanemi Warriors	7
	Emmanuel Ogbole	Kwara United
5	Ossy Martins	Lobi Stars	6
	Sunday Megwo	Abia Warriors
	Ahmed Musa	Kano Pillars
8	Rabiu Abdullahi	Bayelsa United	5
	Joseph Godstime	Niger Tornadoes
	Chijoke Alaekwe	Akwa United
	Rivio Ayemwenre	Ikorodu City
	Falolu Azeez	Katsina United

Hat-tricks

As of 17 October 2024

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Anas Yusuf	Nasarawa United	El-Kanemi Warriors	3–4 (H)[19]	21 September 2024
		Abia Warriors	3–0 (H)[20]	16 October 2024

Note

(H) – Home; (A) – Away

References

1. "New NPFL season kicks off August 31". Daily Post. 26 June 2024.
2. "Rangers settle for point against El-Kanemi in NPFL opener". brila.net. 1 September 2024.
3. "NPFL increases prize money for 2024-25 season to N200m". Daily Post. 16 June 2024.
4. Nsikak, Asuquo (24 July 2024). "Latest News: NPFL lands new sponsorship deal". The Athletic Nigeria.
5. Oyebola, Mike (27 July 2024). "NPFL: Heartland close to top-flight return after Beyond Limits agreement". Daily Post.
6. "NPFL:Pillars adopt Mohammed Dikko Stadium as home ground". dailypost.ng. 29 August 2024.
7. "Lobi Stars adopt Lafia City Stadium as home ground for new season". Daily Post. 19 September 2023.
8. "Why Sunshine Stars adopted Dipo Dina Stadium as home ground". Daily Post. 3 September 2024.
9. "Head Coach Kabiru Dogo Makes Comeback to Nasarawa United". frcnorthcentral.ng. 3 September 2024.
10. "Homecoming: Kabiru Dogo Makes Surprise Return to Nasarawa United". Eggonnews.com. 31 August 2024.
11. "Amokachi returns to NPFL as Lobi Stars' new Head Coach". Premium Times Nigeria. 6 October 2024.
12. "Ikorodu City Confirms the departure of Bright Ozebagbe". The Nation Newspaper. 8 October 2024.
13. "Nurudeen Aweroro Named Interim Head Coach Of Ikorodu City". bsnsports.com. 22 October 2024.
14. "NPFL:Kennedy Boboye resigns as Sunshine Stars head coach". Daily Post. 11 November 2024.
15. "NPFL:Sunshine Stars name coach Kennedy Boboye's replacement". Sports247. 11 December 2024.
16. "Odigie resigns as Bendel Insurance coach". The Guardian Nigeria News. 22 November 2024.
17. "NPFL: Insurance face relegation after points deduction". Punch Newspapers. 12 November 2024.
18. "NPFL: Plateau United docked three points, fined 4.74m over crowd violence". Daily Post Nigeria. 11 November 2024.
19. "NPFL: Rivers United secure top spot, El-Kanemi win away". Daily Post. 21 September 2024.
20. "NPFL: Yusuf's second hat-trick for Nasarawa United shoots down Abia Warriors in Lafia". Blueprint Nigeria. 16 October 2024.