Nigeria’s Debt Management Office is scheduled to seek to raise between N400 billion and N500 billion on Monday, November 24, 2025.
This will be achieved through the reopening of two benchmark Federal Government of Nigeria bonds, an action that represents a significant expansion from the initial issuance plan outlined earlier in the quarter.
The revised Q4 2025 issuance calendar, released on November 18, details that the upcoming event, tagged as the Auction, will reopen the 17.945% FGN AUG 2030 and 17.95% FGN JUN 2032 bonds. Each tranche of the issuance has been sized to raise between N200 billion to N250 billion.
This tranche size marks a substantial increase from the previous plan, which had budgeted for raising between N120 billion to N150 billion per tranche.
The FGN bonds remain core components of the intermediate segment of the sovereign yield curve. Following the reopening, the 2030 bond will carry a remaining maturity of 4 years, 9 months, while the 2032 bond will have a remaining maturity of 6 years, 7 months.
The expanded issuance is strategically timed as the Central Bank of Nigeria prepares to repay maturing Open Market Operation bills. These repayments include a N32 billion 56-day bill that was originally issued on November 7. These repayments are anticipated to inject liquidity into the financial system, thereby creating supportive conditions for the imminent bond sale.
The updated Q4 programme signals the government’s intention to raise between N440 billion and N650 billion across three separate auction windows. This indicates a strong reinforcement of the government’s shift toward domestic borrowing as the primary means to fund its 2025 budget obligations.
The first of the three auctions was held on October 27, successfully raising between N240 billion and N300 billion. The final auction, which is scheduled for December 15, 2025, will mirror the November issuance by offering another N400 billion to N500 billion in the exact same bond series.
By mid-December, the reopened 2030 and 2032 bonds will have slightly shorter maturities of 4 years, 8 months, and 6 years, respectively. However, the DMO has issued a caution that the calendar remains provisional and may be adjusted based on evolving market conditions or unforeseen fiscal requirements.
Analysts suggest that the renewed focus on reopening existing bonds is deliberate. This strategy is designed to achieve multiple goals: deepen liquidity, improve price discovery, and avoid fragmenting the debt market with multiple thinly traded tenors. This approach aligns with global best practices aimed at developing robust domestic bond markets.
With interest rates currently hovering at multi-year highs, investors’ appetite for sovereign paper remains strong. Institutional players, including banks, pension fund administrators, and asset managers, continue to favour government securities that offer coupon rates near 18%, making the upcoming November 24 auction particularly attractive. Many investors are expected to take advantage of this opportunity to lock in high real returns before their year-end portfolio adjustments.
Simultaneously, the CBN is scheduled to repay a total of N332.450 billion in maturing OMO bills between December 2 and December 30, 2025.
This repayment includes N450 million due on December 2 under the OMO 2-Dec-2025 (361-day) programme, as well as approximately N300 billion maturing on December 30 under the OMO 30-Dec-2025 (56-day) instrument issued on November 4.
These substantial repayments are expected to inject further liquidity into the banking system, which will strengthen demand conditions ahead of the DMO’s final bond sales for the year.
Analysts expect a stable issuance environment to persist through year-end, supported by strong market dynamics and the government’s continued reliance on domestic borrowing.
