Plateau United chairman Alhassan Yakmut says the club’s ambitions for the new NPFL season go well beyond mid table comfort, with state backing behind a genuine title push.
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Plateau United chairman Alhassan Yakmut has revealed that the club carries the executive mandate of Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang to win the 2026/27 NPFL title and return the Tin City side to the CAF Champions League stage.
Speaking after the NPFL’s Annual General Meeting in Ibadan, Yakmut explained how the gathering shaped the club’s planning for the season ahead. “The AGM was a very good forum for us to understand the vision of the league in terms of the 2026/2027 season, and then the review of the 2025/2026 season also gave us a clue as to what to emphasise in our preparation towards Plateau United winning the league and then going to represent Nigeria in the CAF Champions League,” he said.
He was direct about where the pressure is coming from. “We have the mandate of His Excellency, the Governor of Plateau State, Governor Caleb Mutfwang, to take Plateau United to the continental stage,” Yakmut said. “Our Technical Adviser, Chief Gbenga Ogunbote, has already signed his contract extension with us, and he is already preparing towards selecting the best legs that will redeem us from the embarrassment of not getting the continental ticket.” Fans following Plateau United’s title push can check Bet9ja’s current promo code ahead of the new NPFL season.
That mandate arrives after a mixed 2025/26 campaign under Ogunbote, whose priorities shifted several times as the season unfolded. Early on, the veteran coach, widely known as “the Oracle,” repeatedly stressed that avoiding relegation was his primary mission, before results improved enough to lift Plateau United well clear of the drop zone by the season’s closing stages.
Ogunbote’s frustrations along the way included a defeat to Rivers United in Port Harcourt that he partly blamed on poor pitch conditions, urging the league to prioritise better playing surfaces across the country. Despite that setback and others, including defeats to Enyimba and Kun Khalifat FC, Plateau United steadied enough to avoid the embarrassment of a second consecutive season without continental football. New Bet9ja users following the NPFL title race can check how to get the Bet9ja promotion code before the new campaign kicks off.
The 2025/26 title race itself went down to the wire, with Rangers, Rivers United and newly promoted Ikorodu City all still mathematically in contention heading into the final matchdays, in what was widely described as the tightest NPFL title battle since 2017, the year Plateau United won their first-ever league championship on the final day of that season.
Getting back to continental competition matters enormously to the club given how long it’s been. Plateau United’s last CAF Champions League campaign came in 2022/23, when they were eliminated by Esperance de Tunis in the second preliminary round before dropping into the CAF Confederation Cup, where they were subsequently knocked out by Libyan club Al-Akhdar SC. Punters following Plateau United’s continental ambitions can check Bet9ja’s YOHAIG code as the new season approaches.
With Ogunbote’s contract extension now secured and a clear governor’s mandate behind them, Plateau United head into the new campaign with genuine title ambitions, though history shows just how competitive the race for the NPFL crown, and a place back on the continental stage, has become in recent seasons.
📌 Did You Know?
- Plateau United won their first ever NPFL title in 2017, edging MFM FC on the final day of the season.
- The club’s last CAF Champions League campaign came in 2022/23, when they were eliminated by Esperance de Tunis in the second preliminary round.
- Chairman Alhassan Yakmut previously served as Director General of Nigeria’s National Sports Commission.
- Head coach Gbenga Ogunbote is nicknamed “the Oracle” and has previously managed Rivers United among other NPFL clubs.
- Plateau United are based in Jos and play their home matches at the New Jos Stadium.
- The 2025/26 NPFL title race was one of the tightest in years, with Rangers, Rivers United and Ikorodu City all still in contention heading into the final matchdays.
- Plateau United dropped into the CAF Confederation Cup after their 2022/23 Champions League exit but were then eliminated by Libyan club Al-Akhdar SC.
