The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on behalf of the Debt Management Office (DMO), will conduct its Nigerian Treasury Bills auction for N700 billion in the third and final primary market auction for July. In an invitation to tender for Nigerian Treasury Bills of 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, the apex bank stated that the N700 billion would be auctioned by Dutch auction on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. The notice seen by Nairametrics on Friday, July 24, shows the CBN’s continued preference for longer-dated paper that has defined its Treasury Bills strategy through the third quarter. What the data is saying: According to the CBN’s invitation to tender, the offer is broken down as N100 billion for the 91-day bill, N100 billion for the 182-day bill, and N500 billion for the 364-day bill. All Money Market Dealers are to submit bids through the CBN S4 Web Interface between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
Each bid must be in multiples of N1,000, subject to a minimum of N50,001,000, with dealers permitted to submit multiple bids on their own account or on behalf of non-Money Market Dealers and members of the public. For 91-day bill: N100 billion is on offer
182-day bill: N100 billion on offer
364-day bill: N500 billion on offer
Total offer: N700 billion
The auction result is expected to be announced on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Allotment letters will be issued on Thursday, July 30, 2026. Payment for successful bids is due to be made to the CBN not later than 11:00 a.m. on the same day. However, the apex bank reserves the right to reject any bid or vary the amount on offer in line with prevailing market conditions. More insights: The auction will be conducted using the Dutch auction system, a competitive bidding process in which investors submit both the amount they wish to purchase and the yield they are willing to accept.
The CBN allocates bills starting from the lowest yield bids upward until the total offering is fully subscribed, meaning aggressive (lower-yield) bids stand a better chance of full allotment, while higher-yield demands run a greater risk of partial or rejected allotment. Bids are submitted electronically through the CBN’s S4 Web Interface, short for the Scripless Securities Settlement System, a platform the apex bank administers to enable safe and efficient electronic acquisition, allotment, and transfer of government securities. The S4 essentially plays the same role for Treasury Bills and other government securities which the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) plays for stocks traded on the Nigerian Exchange — it is where ownership records for successful bidders are held and settled. Only Authorized Money Market Dealers can bid directly on the S4 platform. Individual investors and non-dealer institutions who want exposure to the auction must go through these dealers, who act as both bidding agents and custodians of the Treasury Bills on behalf of their clients.
The move to mandatory electronic bid submission via S4, which the CBN has reinforced across several 2026 auctions, is aimed at reducing manual errors, improving transparency, and supporting more competitive price discovery in the determination of stop rates. Because allocation on a Dutch auction works from the lowest yield upward, the eventual stop rate — the highest yield accepted before the offer size is exhausted — becomes the uniform rate paid to all successful bidders at that tenor, regardless of the specific rate each individual investor bid. What you should know: The July 29 auction is the third and final Treasury Bills sale of the month, coming as part of the CBN’s expanded Q3 2026 NTB Issuance Programme, which targets N5.8 trillion in gross issuance between July and September, more than four times the net target set for the previous quarter.
At the July 8 auction, the CBN allotted N1.06 trillion against a N700 billion offer, raising the stop rate on the one-year bill sharply to 17.70% from 17.34% at the June 17 auction, with the 364-day bill alone drawing N1.86 trillion in bids. At the July 15 auction, investors poured N2.872 trillion into the 364-day instrument alone, more than seven times the N400 billion on offer, while the 91-day and 182-day bills went undersubscribed. The CBN allotted a total of N1.19 trillion, with the one-year stop rate easing slightly to 17.66% from 17.70% previously. Across the two auctions, the pattern has been consistent: overwhelming institutional demand for the 364-day bill, muted appetite for shorter tenors, and a CBN willing to significantly overshoot its advertised offer sizes to accept excess demand at the long end, a trend expected to repeat at the July 29 auction.
All eyes will be on whether the stop rate continues its marginal downward drift or reverses course amid the CBN’s broader liquidity mop-up strategy for Q3 2026.
