Allotments at Nigeria’s government securities auctions fell by 55.86 per cent to ₦9.501 trillion in October 2026, from ₦21.527 trillion in September, as demand ratios weakened and the monetary authorities left substantial investor bids unallotted.
The Financial Markets Dealers Association’s October 2026 market report shows that the figure combines Nigerian Treasury Bills, Open Market Operations bills and Federal Government of Nigeria bonds.
The ₦12.026 trillion decline was driven mainly by lower OMO issuance, while FGN bonds were the only instrument to record higher allotments during the month.
According to the FMDA, OMO issuance dropped by 64.69 per cent to ₦6.182 trillion in October from ₦17.510 trillion in September, accounting for most of the fall in total auction allotments.
Treasury Bills allotments also declined by 45.86 per cent to ₦1.309 trillion from ₦2.418 trillion.
FGN bond issuance, on the other hand, rose by 25.70 per cent to ₦2.010 trillion from ₦1.599 trillion.
Bid-to-cover ratios fell to 2.19 times for NTBs from 5.11 times, while OMO ratios dropped to 1.70 times from 3.69 times.
The FGN bond bid-to-cover ratio eased to 1.00 times from 1.49 times, indicating that subscriptions were roughly equal to the amount offered.
At the October 28 NTB auction, the Debt Management Office (DMO) rejected about ₦1.84 trillion in bids and allotted only ₦71.16 billion against subscriptions of ₦1.908 trillion.
The auction drew subscriptions equal to 2.38 times the ₦800 billion on offer, underscoring the gap between investor demand and actual allotments.
At the October 14 auction, about 74 per cent of bids went unallotted, while the one-year stop rate rose by five basis points to 15.90 per cent.
Secondary-market turnover across the three instruments also fell by 37.19 per cent to ₦25.754 trillion from ₦41.002 trillion, with OMO accounting for ₦16.755 trillion.
Nigeria’s 10-year government bond yield rose by 40 basis points to 16.63 per cent in October, in sharp contrast with declines across several international markets.
The FMDA attributed the domestic movement to softer auction demand rather than a monetary policy adjustment.
The United States’ 10-year yield fell by 36 basis points to 4.93 per cent, while Japan’s dropped by 30 basis points.
South Africa’s yield declined by 23 basis points, the United Kingdom’s by 14 basis points and China’s by six basis points.
Kenya recorded a 13-basis-point increase to 12.53 per cent, while Nigeria’s spread over the US 10-year yield stood at about 11.70 percentage points.
In Nigeria’s secondary market, average Treasury Bills yields rose by 28 basis points to 18.02 per cent, led by the nine-month instrument, which climbed to 18.71 per cent.
Average FGN bond yields increased by 23 basis points to 16.18 per cent, while average OMO yields declined to 18.88 per cent from 19.81 per cent.
At the October 19 FGN bond auction, the DMO allotted about ₦1.2 trillion, compared with ₦748.64 billion in September.
The stop rate on the 16.79 per cent FGN September 2036 bond rose to 17.29 per cent from 16.79 per cent, indicating higher borrowing costs for that instrument.
The drop in October’s OMO allotments followed heavy liquidity withdrawals in September, when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold about ₦17.51 trillion in OMO securities.
Those September sales exceeded maturities of ₦10.89 trillion, resulting in a net withdrawal of about ₦6.62 trillion.
In October, the CBN allotted ₦6.182 trillion in OMO securities against maturities of ₦9.051 trillion, leaving a net repayment of about ₦2.87 trillion, according to the FMDA.
The FMDA said banking-system liquidity increased by 56.75 per cent to ₦7.373 trillion from its September level.
The association also reported that foreign portfolio investors held more than $20 billion in Nigerian OMO securities, citing its market sources.
The CBN’s September 29 auction raised about ₦4.686 trillion against an offer of ₦2.5 trillion, illustrating the scale of the earlier liquidity absorption.
The slowdown in October coincided with substantial unallotted subscriptions at the final OMO and Treasury Bills auctions.
The FMDA noted that keeping returns attractive for foreign investors holding OMO securities remains an important consideration in the CBN’s interest-rate strategy.
The shift in issuance volumes also highlights the relationship between maturing securities, fresh allotments and available banking-system liquidity.
The naira depreciated by 0.87 per cent to ₦1,338.99 per dollar in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market during October, despite CBN dollar sales above $3 billion, the FMDA said.
The parallel-market premium narrowed to ₦40.20 from ₦64.24, while foreign exchange reserves rose to about $55 billion.
Nigeria’s Eurobond yield fell by 26 basis points to 7.32 per cent as of October 29, while a $105.94 million Eurobond coupon payment is due in November.
The FMDA advised banks to lengthen portfolio duration selectively rather than aggressively chase higher yields, noting that holders of existing securities faced modest mark-to-market losses.
The Monetary Policy Rate remained unchanged at 23 per cent after September’s reduction, with another Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled for November.
Investors will be monitoring the CBN’s policy stance, exchange-rate developments and oil-price risks linked to the Middle East.
With securities allotments down, domestic bond yields rising and substantial inflows projected, subsequent auctions will be important indicators of the direction of Nigeria’s fixed-income market.
