The Debt Management Office Nigeria is auctioning N600 billion today, Monday May 18, 2026, reopened Federal Government bonds, with elevated yield as high as 22.60 per cent.

On behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the agency is rolling out two previously issued instruments carrying coupon rates of 22.60 per cent and 16.2499 per cent, with settlement due May 20, 2026.

The bonds offer semi-annual interest payments and bullet repayment at maturity, positioning the sale as a strategic reopening across two key tenor buckets — 10-year and 20-year.

The N600 billion reopened bond auction facilitated by a consortium of Primary Dealer Market Makers including Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, and a host of others comprises two offers.

The N300 billion of the 22.60 per cent FGN Bond due January 2035 (10-Year Re-opening) and the N300 billion of the 16.2499 per cent FGN Bond due April 2037 (20-Year Re-opening).

Investors will receive interest payments semi-annually, while the principal will be repaid in full at maturity.

The bonds are priced at N1,000 per unit with a minimum subscription of N50.001 million and are backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

As re-openings, the coupon rates on both instruments are already fixed, meaning successful bidders will pay a price corresponding to the yield-to-maturity that clears the volume being auctioned, plus any accrued interest on the instrument.

This structure allows the DMO to consolidate liquidity in existing bond lines rather than fragment the market with entirely new issuances.

The wide spread between the two instruments — 22.60 per cent on the 10-year and 16.2499 per cent on the 20-year — is notable.

It reflects the inverted yield dynamics that have characterised Nigeria’s fixed-income market in recent periods, where shorter-dated instruments have attracted higher yields amid tight monetary policy conditions.

The bonds carry several status qualifiers that enhance their appeal to institutional investors.

They qualify as securities eligible for trustee investment under the Trustee Investment Act.

They qualify as Government securities under CITA and PITA, making them eligible for tax exemption for Pension Funds and other qualifying investors.

They are listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, ensuring secondary market liquidity and price transparency.

FGN Bonds qualify as liquid assets for banks’ liquidity ratio calculations, further broadening demand across the financial system.

Today’s auction marks the latest in a consistent run of bond re-openings the DMO has conducted since December 2025, underscoring the Federal Government’s heavy reliance on existing bond lines to consolidate domestic debt rather than introduce new instruments.

The January 2026 auction set a peak when total allotments reached N1.54 trillion, well exceeding the N900 billion on offer — driven by strong oversubscription across all three re-opened bonds, including the same 22.60 per cent FGN January 2035 instrument being re-opened today.

By February 2026, the DMO auctioned N800 billion in three re-openings at yields retreating below 20 per cent, signalling an easing borrowing cost environment compared with the prior month’s peak rates.

April’s N700 billion auction further re-opened the 22.60 per cent FGN January 2035 bond alongside shorter-dated instruments, maintaining the pattern of tapping existing lines amid elevated but gradually moderating yields.

Today’s N600 billion offering — the fifth re-opening cycle since December 2025 — keeps the 22.60 per cent tenor as the DMO’s anchor instrument, confirming it as the market’s dominant long-dated benchmark in Nigeria’s current high-rate borrowing environment.