Nigeria National League (NNL) has placed relegated NPFL side Akwa United in Southern Conference B for the upcoming 2025/26 season, with the league scheduled to begin on 8 November 2025. Akwa United will compete in a group that includes Sporting Lagos, Dakkada, Abakaliki FC, Solution FC, Osun United, First Bank, Stormers and Rovers.
Akwa United’s inclusion comes despite financial scrutiny. Earlier, the NNL had issued a ban on clubs with unresolved financial obligations including Akwa United pending compliance with the Nigeria Football Federation’s Players Status and Arbitration Committee rulings.
The league’s AGM in Kaduna also saw a format rewrite: the former Super 8 playoff has been scrapped and replaced with a Super 4 to decide the overall NNL champion. From Conferences A and B, three teams will face relegation, while Conferences C and D will see two teams drop.
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Editorial
We believe the NNL draw that slots Akwa United into Southern Conference B provides a telling snapshot of Nigerian football’s second-tier dynamics one defined by ambition, scrutiny, and structural challenge. Akwa United begins this campaign with the weight of expectation as a former NPFL side. Yet, they also carry the baggage of financial uncertainty flagged by the league. The question is not only whether they can earn promotion back to the top flight, but whether they can do so while resolving the off-field issues that nearly barred them from registering.
The new Super 4 format, replacing the Super 8, tightens the race for supremacy and adds pressure on teams to finish strongly in their conference. For Akwa United and their peers, every match in this structure becomes pivotal—there are fewer lifelines, meaning recovery from a slow start will be more difficult. The restructuring reflects NNL’s intent to heighten competition, but it also raises concerns about depth and squad resilience, particularly for teams juggling both financial and sporting pressures.
Akwa United’s campaign in Southern Conference B will offer a real measure of the club’s capacity to balance on-field ambition with off-field accountability. If they can resolve their financial obligations and remain competitive throughout the season, they could set a benchmark for professionalism in the NNL. But failure on either front could spell a deeper fall—one that extends beyond sporting failure to administrative mismanagement.
We think this season could serve as a defining moment not just for Akwa United, but for the league as a whole in determining whether clubs can truly “bounce back” from relegation in a sustainable way. The line between redemption and relapse may well be drawn in the next few months.
Did You Know?
- Akwa United were relegated from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) at the end of the 2024/25 season.
- The NNL AGM held in Kaduna confirmed a shift from the Super 8 playoff to a Super 4 format to determine the league’s overall champion.
- The 2025/26 NNL season is scheduled to kick off on 8 November, with the opening match held in Makurdi.
- Three teams each will be relegated from Conferences A and B, while Conferences C and D will see two clubs drop to lower divisions.
- Lobi Stars, and Sunshine Stars were also barred from registering for the upcoming NNL season due to outstanding financial liabilities.
