Bauchi, Nigeria — For one of Nigeria’s most iconic football institutions, the unthinkable has officially happened.
The grueling 2025-26 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season has wrapped up, leaving a trail of absolute devastation in Bauchi. Wikki Tourists—affectionately known as the Bauchi Elephants—have been condemned to the second tier of Nigerian football after a nightmare campaign that saw them finish dead bottom of the top-flight table.
But while rival fans mock and critics write their obituary, club Chairman Alhaji Salmanu Abubakar has issued a fierce, uncompromising message to the entire nation: Do not count them out just yet.
The Stumble of a Giant
The math is brutal for the Bauchi faithful. Wikki Tourists managed to secure just 40 points from their 38 matches, a dismal run that anchored them to 20th place and forced a painful ticket down to the Nigeria National League (NNL).
Reflecting on the catastrophic year, Abubakar didn’t sugarcoat the reality, openly describing the campaign as one of the darkest and toughest chapters in the club’s long history. However, the club chief insists that a single bad year will not define their legacy.
“Wikki Tourists is bigger than one season,” a defiant Abubakar declared during his end-of-season address. “The elephant may stumble, but it never forgets how to rise.”
A Season of Pure Chaos and Contradictions
The final day of the 2025-26 NPFL season will go down as one of the most dramatic in recent memory, perfectly illustrating just how unpredictable Nigerian football can be.
While the bottom of the table was a graveyard of giants, the top of the league saw Enugu Rangers officially crowned champions of Nigeria, sparking wild celebrations in the coal city.
The contrast between the winners and the losers couldn’t be more staggering. Wikki Tourists aren’t heading down to the NNL alone; they are dragging several other massive powerhouses into the abyss with them. Shockingly, last year’s reigning champions Remo Stars, alongside Bayelsa United and the El-Kanemi Warriors, were all caught in the deadly relegation quicksand.
| Relegated Clubs (2025-26) | New League (Next Season) |
| Wikki Tourists | Nigeria National League (NNL) |
| Remo Stars | Nigeria National League (NNL) |
| Bayelsa United | Nigeria National League (NNL) |
| El-Kanemi Warriors | Nigeria National League (NNL) |
With four historic teams now trapped in the NNL, next season’s promotion battle is shaping up to be an absolute bloodbath. Abubakar has already promised supporters that massive structural changes are underway behind the scenes in Bauchi. The message is clear: Wikki Tourists are treating this relegation not as an ending, but as the ultimate wake-up call to rebuild, reload, and storm back into the NPFL stronger than ever before.
