DMO Opens N1.75 Trillion FGN Bond Auction After Record Nine-Month Allotments

The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Monday, October 19, opened the October Nigerian Government Bond auction, offering a combined N1.75 trillion across three maturities in the first of three planned fourth-quarter sales.

The offer comprises N500 billion of the 19.00 per cent FGN February 2034 bond, N800 billion of the 16.79 per cent FGN September 2036 note and N450 billion of the 15.45 per cent FGN June 2038 maturity, according to the provisional issuance calendar published by the DMO. Settlement for successful bids is scheduled in line with the auction circular.

A front-loaded fourth quarter

Monday's auction is the first of three on the provisional calendar. November 16 and December 14 are each pencilled for N2 trillion in offers, which would bring total fourth-quarter supply to N5.75 trillion if the calendar holds. The calendar is provisional and can be adjusted at short notice, the DMO has noted.

The fourth-quarter push follows an exceptional nine months for domestic bond issuance. Between January and September 2026, the Federal Government allotted N7.15 trillion in FGN bonds, more than double the N3.48 trillion allotted in the same period of 2025 — a 106 per cent increase driven by sharp rises in January, June, July and August.

Where the debt stock stands

Nigeria's total public debt stock stood at N166.79 trillion as of June 30, 2026, up from N159.35 trillion at the end of March, DMO data show. Domestic debt accounted for N91.59 trillion, or 54.91 per cent of the portfolio, with FGN bonds the largest single component at N64.84 trillion.

FGN Sukuk stood at N1.19 trillion, savings bonds at N122.45 billion and green bonds at N47.36 billion, while promissory notes totalled N1.22 trillion. The continued dominance of conventional bonds underscores the government's reliance on the domestic market to fund the deficit as external financing conditions remain uneven.

Demand test after a busy year

The October auction will gauge how much appetite investors still have for longer-duration naira paper after months of heavy supply. Bank treasuries, pension fund administrators and asset managers remain the core buyer base, and the stop rates emerging from Monday's bid opening will set a reference point for secondary market yields through the rest of the quarter.