The Nigeria Federation Cup is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria usually contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states and the FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nigerian equivalent of the FA Cup, Emperor's Cup, Copa do Brasil, Coupe de France, and Hrvatski nogometni kup, among others. The tournament was created in 1945 as the "Governor's Cup", succeeding the War Memorial Challenge Cup that had been limited to teams from Lagos.

The tournament, as the Governor's Cup, was initially dominated by Lagosian teams, later it was known as the Nigeria FA Cup from (1954–1959), Nigeria Challenge Cup (1960–1998), Coca-Cola FA Cup (1999–2008) and Nigeria Federation Cup (2009–2016). Between 2017 and 2022, the competition was sponsored by the AITEO group and known as the AITEO Cup including the women's tournament.

On 8 August 2021, Bayelsa became the first state to have two clubs win the FA cup in the men's and women's editions in the same year. Shooting Stars are the most successful club, having won the competition eight times, followed by the defunct Lagos Railways with 7 titles and Enugu Rangers with six titles.

El-Kanemi Warriors are the current champions, with the 2026 tournament victory giving them their fourth Nigeria FA Cup title.

Format The competition is a single elimination knockout tournament featuring 74 teams from the 36 states and 1 from the FCT in Nigeria. All clubs qualify via their states cup championships, the winners and runners-up of each state cup championship qualifies for the tournament regardless of their position at the Nigerian football league system. A 'Rookie' play-off will be held for the 20 lowest ranked clubs, the 10 winners then joins the remaining 54 at the first round. All matches are held at neutral venues.

The winner qualifies automatically for the next season's CAF Confederation Cup or the runners-up if the winner had already qualified for a CAF club competition based on league's position.

Finals YearWinnersScoreRunners-up War Memorial Challenge Cup 1942 ZAC Bombers1–0 Services 1943 Lagos Marine3–2 RAF 1944 Lagos Railways2–0Marine 1945 Lagos Railways1–1 (4–1) Lagos United Governors Cup 1945 Marine1–0 Corinthians 1946 Lagos Railways3–1Port Harcourt FC 1947 Marine3–1Lagos Railways 1948 Lagos Railways1–0 Warri1949 Lagos Railways3–0 Port Harcourt FC 1950 Lagos UAC3–2Port Harcourt FC 1951 Lagos Railways3–2 Jos Plateau Highlanders 1952 Lagos PAN Bank6–0 Warri 1953 Kano Pillars2–1 Lagos Dynamos FA Cup 1954 St. Patrick's College3–0Kano Pillars 1955 Port Harcourt FC4–1 Warri 1956 Lagos Railways3–1 Warri 1957 Lagos Railways5–1 Zaria 1958 Port Harcourt FC6–0 Federal United 1959 Ibadan Lions1–0Police Challenge Cup 1960 Lagos ECN5–2Ibadan Lions 1961 Ibadan Lions1–0Lagos UAC 1962 Police1–0Jos Plateau Highlanders 1963 Port Harcourt FC1–0Jos Plateau Highlanders 1964 Lagos Railways3–1Jos Plateau Highlanders 1965 Lagos ECN3–1 Jos Plateau Highlanders 1966 Ibadan Lionsw/o Jos Plateau Highlanders 1967 Stationery Stores3–1 Jos Plateau Highlanders 1968 Stationery Stores3–1 (replay) Plateau United 1969 Ibadan Lions5–1 Warri 1970 Lagos ECN3–1 Mighty Jets 1971 WNDC Ibadan2–1 Enugu Rangers 1972 Bendel Insurance2–2 (3–2 replay)Mighty Jets 1973 1974 Enugu Rangers2–0 Mighty Jets 1975 Enugu Rangers1–0 Shooting Stars 1976 Enugu Rangers2–0 Alyufsalam Rocks 1977 Shooting Stars2–0 Racca Rovers 1978 Bendel Insurance3–0 Enugu Rangers 1979 Shooting Stars2–0 Sharks FC 1980 Bendel Insurance1–0Stationery Stores 1981 Enugu Rangers2–0 Bendel Insurance 1982 Stationery Stores4–1 Niger Tornadoes 1983 Enugu Rangers0–0 DIC Bees 1984 Leventis United1–0 Abiola Babes 1985 Abiola Babes0–0 BCC Lions 1986 Leventis United 1–0 Abiola Babes 1987 Abiola Babes1–1 Ranchers Bees 1988 Iwuanyanwu Nationale3–0Flash Flamingoes 1989 BCC Lions 1–0Iwuanyanwu Nationale 1990 Stationery Stores 0–0 Enugu Rangers 1991 El-Kanemi Warriors 3–2Kano Pillars 1992 El-Kanemi Warriors1–0Stationery Stores 1993 BCC Lions 1–0 Plateau United 1994 BCC Lions 1–0Julius Berger 1995 Shooting Stars2–0 Katsina United 1996 Julius Berger1–0 (a.p.)Katsina United 1997 BCC Lions1–0 Katsina United 1998 Wikki Tourists0-0Plateau United Coca-Cola FA Cup 1999 Plateau United 1–0Iwuanyanwu Nationale 2000 Niger Tornadoes 1–0 Enugu Rangers 2001 Dolphins FC2–0El-Kanemi Warriors 2002 Julius Berger3–0Yobe Desert Stars 2003 Lobi Stars2–0Sharks FC 2004 Dolphins FC1–0 Enugu Rangers 2005 Enyimba1–1 Lobi Stars 2006 Dolphins FC2-2 Bendel Insurance 2007 Dolphins FC1–1 Enugu Rangers 2008 Ocean Boys2–2 Gombe United Federation Cup 2009 Enyimba1–0 Sharks FC 2010 Kaduna United3–3 Enyimba 2011 Heartland1–0 Enyimba 2012 Heartland2–1Lobi Stars 2013 Enyimba2–2 Warri Wolves 2014 Enyimba2–1 Dolphins FC 2015 Akwa United2–1 Lobi Stars 2016 Ifeanyi Ubah0–0 Nasarawa United 2017 Akwa United0–0 Niger Tornadoes 2018 Enugu Rangers3–3 Kano Pillars 2019 Kano Pillars0–0 Niger Tornadoes 2020 2021Bayelsa United2–2 Nasarawa United20222023Bendel Insurance1–0Enugu Rangers2024El-Kanemi Warriors2–0Abia Warriors2025Kwara United0–0 Abakaliki2026El-Kanemi Warriors1–0Ikorodu City

Performance by club (not including War Memorial Cup) Club Winners Years won Shooting Stars (Ibadan) [includes Ibadan Lions and WNDC] 821959, 1961, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1977, 1979, 1995 Lagos Railways (Lagos) 711946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1956, 1957, 1964 Enugu Rangers (Enugu) 671974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1983, 2018 Bendel Insurance (Benin City) 421972, 1978, 1980, 2021 Stationery Stores (Lagos) 421967, 1968, 1982, 1990 Enyimba (Aba) 422005, 2009, 2013, 2014 BCC Lions (Gboko) 411989, 1993, 1994, 1997 El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri) 411991, 1992, 2024, 2026 Dolphins FC (Port-Harcourt) [formerly known as Eagle Cement] 4 12001, 2004, 2006, 2007 Port Harcourt FC (Port Harcourt) 331955, 1958, 1963 Iwuanyanwu Nationale/Heartland (Owerri) 321988, 2011, 2012 Lagos ECN (Lagos) (later renamed NEPA) 3–1960, 1965, 1970 Kano Pillars (Kano) 231953, 2019 Abiola Babes (Abeokuta) 221985, 1987 Julius Berger (Lagos) 211996, 2002Akwa United (Uyo) 2–2015, 2017 Leventis United (Ibadan) 2–1984, 1986 Marine (Lagos) 2–1945, 1947 Lobi Stars (Makurdi) 132003 Niger Tornadoes (Minna) 132000 Plateau United (Jos) 131999 Lagos UAC (Lagos) 111950 Police (Lagos) 111962 St Patrick's College (Calabar) 1–1954 Ifeanyi Ubah (Nnewi) 1–2016 Kaduna United (Kaduna) 1–2010 Lagos PAN Bank (Lagos) 1–1952 Ocean Boys (Brass) 1–2008 Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) 1–1998 Bayelsa United (Yenagoa) 1–2021 Kwara United (Ilorin) 1–2025 Mighty Jets [Jos Plateau Highlanders] (Jos) –10– Warri (Warri) –5– Katsina United (Katsina) –3– Sharks FC (Port Harcourt) –3– Nasarawa United (Nasarawa) –2– Ranchers Bees [DIC Bees] (Kaduna) –2– Corinthians (Lagos) –1– Federal United (Abuja) –1– Flash Flamingoes (Uromi) –1– Lagos Dynamos (Lagos) –1– Racca Rovers (Kano) –1– Alyufasalam Rocks (Ilorin) –1– Gombe United (Gombe) –1– Yobe Desert Stars (Damaturu) –1– Warri Wolves (Warri) –1– Abia Warriors (Umuahia) –1– Abakaliki (Abakaliki) –1– Ikorodu City (Lagos) –1

References

External links RSSSF competition history Nigerian Football Online Super Eagles Nation