Ramsey Nouah AMVCA: why the star says he never won Best Actor

Ramsey Nouah is one of Nollywood’s best-known faces, but he says he has never won an acting award at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. Speaking on a podcast that aired on Saturday 3 October, the actor and director blamed the voting system of the time. Here is the Ramsey Nouah AMVCA story in full: what he said, what the record shows, and how the awards are decided today.

By Editorial Team

What we know

• Where he said it (FACT). Nouah spoke to host Isbae U on the Curiosity Made Me Ask podcast. Legit.ng reports that the episode aired on YouTube on Saturday 3 October 2026.
• What he said (FACT, his words). “I never won an AMVCA. I was nominated for best actor in 76 and I lost. At the time, it was predominantly viewers choice award. Now, you can have the balance of the jury and then the viewers,” he said, as quoted by The Nation and Naija News.
• His explanation (CLAIM). “At that time it was predominantly viewers and the guy who was stronger on social media got it over us,” Nouah said. He named his fellow nominees as Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) and “Uncle Olu Jacobs”. This is his own view of why he lost. It has not been tested, and the AMVCA has not responded.
• His wins behind the camera (FACT). Nouah has won Best Director twice: in 2020 for Living in Bondage: Breaking Free, his first film as director, and in 2022 for Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story, Legit.ng reports.

What the Ramsey Nouah AMVCA record shows

Several reports got the year of the nomination wrong. The Nation and Legit.ng say 2011, and Naija News says 2016. Neither can be right. The AMVCA started in 2013, and the historical drama ’76 premiered in 2016.

The record points to the 2017 ceremony. TheCable reported at the time that Sambasa Nzeribe won Best Actor for his role in Slow Country, ahead of Olu Jacobs, Ramsey Nouah and Richard Mofe-Damijo. Nzeribe had won Best Supporting Actor the year before. ’76 still had a strong night, winning five awards, more than any other film that year, TheCable reported.

Nzeribe did nothing wrong by winning. He won under the rules in place at the time. Nouah’s point was about the system, not about any one person, and he did not name the winner on the podcast.

Olu Jacobs, the third veteran in that category, died this year. We reported on his funeral and the tributes from across Nollywood.

How AMVCA winners are decided today

Nouah is right that the system has changed. In its official FAQ for the 12th AMVCA in 2026, Africa Magic says there are 29 categories. Eleven are open to public voting, and 18 are decided by a panel of judges, including the special recognition awards.

The Guardian explains that the biggest prizes, including Best Movie, Best Director, Best Lead Actor and Best Lead Actress, are decided by the jury, not by fans. Public-vote categories such as Best Digital Content Creator are where online fan bases still make the biggest difference.

That split is why a performance can trend online and still lose a major award, and why a star with a big following can no longer simply rely on fans for the top acting prizes. Our AMVCA explainer covers the categories and the history of the awards in more detail.

Nouah on “old” and “new” Nollywood

On the same podcast, Nouah also pushed back on the habit of splitting the industry into “old” and “new” Nollywood. He argued that it is one continuous industry that has grown with technology and time, Legit.ng reports.

His own career makes the point. He began acting in the early 1990s, during the home-video era, and later directed the 2019 sequel to the landmark film Living in Bondage. Our history of Nollywood explains why the original Living in Bondage matters so much.

His fellow 2017 nominee RMD is also still busy. He has a guest role in Netflix’s revival of A Different World, which we covered in our report on the series. Both men were among the guests when Femi Adebayo opened his new creative hub in Lagos on 6 October, Pulse Nigeria reported.

What happens next

• The AMVCA has not responded to Nouah’s comments. Any statement from Africa Magic would be the next development.
• Entries for the 13th AMVCA are expected to open in January 2027, if the organisers keep to the calendar used this year.
• Nouah is still acting as well as directing, so a future acting nomination would be judged under the jury system he described.

More celebrity coverage: Celebrity News.

Photo credits: Featured image: Centertainment branded share card. In-article image: Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD), a fellow nominee, at a premiere in 2019. Photo: One7One TV, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Source.

Sources

• Legit.ng: Ramsey Nouah opens up on how social media cost him, RMD and Olu Jacobs an AMVCA win (6 Oct 2026)
• The Nation: Why I have never won AMVCA — Ramsey Nouah (Oct 2026)
• Naija News: I have never won AMVCA — Ramsey Nouah (6 Oct 2026)
• TheCable Lifestyle: AMVCA 2017 — Ramsey Nouah, RMD lose best actor award to Sambasa Nzeribe (4 Mar 2017)
• Africa Magic: FAQs, AMVCA 12th edition
• The Guardian Nigeria: How AMVCA winners are decided (1 Apr 2026)