By Kehinde Victor| September 24, 2026
Key Points
- Treasury bill stop rates fell to 15.50%, 15.80% and 15.89% across the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors
- Investors submitted about ₦4.2 trillion in bids against the ₦500 billion offered at the auction
- The average secondary-market Treasury bill yield fell 43 basis points to 18.38% after the CBN reset its MPR to 23%
Main Story
Nigerian Treasury bill rates fell below 16% across all three standard tenors on Wednesday after the Central Bank of Nigeria reset its Monetary Policy Rate to 23% from 26.5%.
The Debt Management Office, acting through the CBN, offered ₦500 billion in Treasury bills across 91-day, 182-day and 364-day maturities. The auction attracted about ₦4.2 trillion in subscriptions, with approximately ₦497.6 billion allotted to investors.
The 91-day bill cleared at 15.50%, down 80 basis points from the previous auction. The 182-day tenor fell 70 basis points to 15.80%, while the 364-day bill declined 73 basis points to 15.89%.
The repricing followed the MPC’s 350-basis-point reduction in the MPR at its September 21–22 meeting. The CBN described the decision as an operational realignment intended to restore the MPR as the principal signal for interest rates and improve monetary-policy transmission.
Secondary-market activity also strengthened after the policy announcement. AIICO Capital reported that the average Treasury bill yield declined to 18.38%, while rates on the 180-day and 365-day instruments also moved lower.
The Issues
The repricing highlights how quickly changes in the policy-rate framework can transmit into Nigeria’s fixed-income market. Treasury bill yields had already been trending lower before the September MPC meeting, with the final Q3 auction coming after two earlier September auctions that had also recorded lower stop rates.
The size of investor demand is also significant. The auction’s roughly ₦4.2 trillion subscription level was more than eight times the amount offered, indicating strong demand for government securities even as clearing yields moved lower.
At the same time, August headline inflation stood at 15.39%, meaning the new short-term Treasury bill rates are now close to the prevailing inflation rate rather than providing the wide nominal spread seen earlier in the rate cycle.
What’s Being Said
“The Committee decided as follows: reset the monetary policy rate at 23 per cent,” said Olayemi Cardoso, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria.
AIICO Capital’s September 23 market report said the rate cut pulled Treasury bill yields lower, with the 91-day, 180-day and 365-day segments recording declines while the average yield settled at 18.38%.
What’s Next
- Successful bidders are expected to receive their allotment letters on September 24, with payment due by 11:00 a.m. that day.
- Investors will monitor subsequent secondary-market yields for evidence of whether the lower auction rates become the new market reference points
- The next monetary-policy decisions will be closely watched for signs of whether the September MPR reset translates into a broader easing cycle or primarily serves as an operational realignment
Bottom Line
The Bottom Line: The Treasury bill market has immediately repriced around the CBN’s new 23% policy benchmark, while strong demand has allowed the government to borrow at materially lower rates. The key market question now is whether this lower-yield environment becomes sustained as monetary-policy transmission improves.
