How to Buy Treasury Bills in Nigeria: Banks, Apps and What They Pay Now

You buy Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) through your bank's investment or treasury desk, not by walking into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with cash. Buying directly from the CBN at its fortnightly auction needs a minimum of ₦50,001,000 — far more than most individuals have spare — but your bank can put you into the secondary market from around ₦100,000, in ₦10,000 steps after that. At the CBN auction on 7 October 2026, the 91-day bill cleared at 15.50%, the 182-day at 15.80% and the 364-day at 15.85%, continuing a slide from the 17.70% peak hit in July. A 10% withholding tax comes off your interest automatically, and with headline inflation at 15.39% in August 2026, the after-tax return on a fresh bill is now barely ahead of the cost of living — sometimes behind it.

Quick facts: buying Treasury bills in Nigeria (checked October 2026)

What are Nigerian Treasury Bills?

Treasury bills are short-term IOUs from the Federal Government of Nigeria, issued through the CBN to raise money for a few months at a time. They come in three tenors: 91 days, 182 days and 364 days. Stanbic IBTC's own investor FAQ describes them as "a secure investment avenue for individuals, joint applicants, businesses, and corporates," backed by "the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria" — in plain terms, the government isn't going to default on a 91-day bill.

You don't earn interest the way you would on a savings account. Instead, you buy the bill at a discount to its face value, and the government pays you the full face value back at maturity. Stanbic's FAQ gives a clean example: put ₦100,000 into a bill priced at a 10% discount, and your account is debited just ₦90,000. At maturity, the full ₦100,000 lands back in your account — the ₦10,000 gap is your return, taken off the price upfront rather than paid out later.

How much do you actually need to buy Treasury bills in Nigeria?

This is where a lot of guides get it wrong. There are two very different price tags depending on how you buy:

Buying directly from the CBN at the primary auction needs a minimum subscription of ₦50,001,000, confirmed in the CBN's own bid circular for the 12 August 2026 auction, as reported by Nairametrics ("minimum subscription of N50,001,000... each bid made in multiples of N1,000") and matched by Stanbic's own FAQ. This route is really for banks, pension funds and large institutional investors, not individuals.

Buying through your bank's secondary market desk is the realistic route for most people. Stanbic IBTC's investor FAQ puts the minimum here at ₦100,000, in multiples of ₦10,000 after that. Other commercial banks — GTBank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank and First Bank among them — run similar treasury desks that pool individual customers' money to meet the CBN's bigger minimums, but each sets its own minimum and fees, so ask your relationship manager or call their investment line for the current figures before you commit.

Asset managers can also get you in at a similar scale. ARM Investment Managers puts typical minimums for buying into Treasury bill-based products "in the range of ₦100,000 to ₦1,000,000, depending on the issuer and platform."

If even ₦100,000 is more than you want to tie up right now, savings apps such as Cowrywise and PiggyVest offer money-market or fixed-term products that blend Treasury bills with other low-risk instruments inside a pooled fund, rather than selling you one specific bill. That's a different product from owning a bill outright — the fund's own fact sheet, not the CBN auction rate, tells you what it actually pays, so read that before you commit. If you'd rather know exactly what your money's invested in, a bank's secondary-market desk gives you an actual bill with its own maturity date and rate.

How to buy Treasury bills in Nigeria, step by step

1. Pick a bank with a treasury or investment desk. You need an existing account there — T-bill investors must hold an account with the bank handling the purchase.
2. Have your BVN ready and your account funded. Every bank account in Nigeria runs on your Bank Verification Number — here's how to check yours if you've forgotten it or need to confirm it's linked. Banks now check your NIN alongside it as part of standard KYC, so make sure that's registered too if you haven't already.
3. Choose primary or secondary market. The CBN's primary auction runs roughly every two weeks, usually on a Wednesday. The secondary market is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, and is the more practical route unless you're investing tens of millions of naira.
4. Submit your request. For a primary auction, your bank will have you complete a Treasury Bill Auction Bid Form. For the secondary market, you typically send a letter of instruction (or use your bank's app, where available) stating the amount and tenor you want, and complete a Custodial Agreement Form if you don't already have one on file.
5. Fund the account before the deadline. You're debited the discounted purchase price, not the face value — so a ₦100,000 bill at a 10% discount only takes ₦90,000 out of your account.
6. Wait for maturity, or sell early. The full face value is credited automatically on the maturity date. If you need the cash sooner, you can sell on the secondary market, but you'll get whatever the market is paying that day — not guaranteed face value.

Budget for a few small charges on top: Stanbic's published fee schedule (last updated August 2023, so confirm the current figures with your own bank) lists a flat ₦300 transaction fee, a custody fee of about 0.05% of the face value, and a flat ₦100 commission on primary-market deals — plus 7.5% VAT on each of those. These are small relative to the amounts involved, but worth knowing about.

Current Treasury bill rates in Nigeria (checked October 2026)

Nairametrics reported that the Debt Management Office raised ₦968.47 billion against an ₦900 billion target at this auction, with the 364-day rate down from 15.89% at the previous sale and 185 basis points below the 17.70% high recorded on 8 July 2026. Rates have been easing steadily since then — a trend worth watching if you're deciding between a shorter 91-day bill and locking in a 364-day rate now before it falls further.

These are primary auction rates and reset every auction. Secondary market pricing moves separately and can shift daily — ask your bank's treasury desk for the live rate before you buy, rather than assuming it matches the latest CBN headline.

How to calculate your Treasury bill return

Treasury bill rates are quoted as a discount, which makes the true annualised return a bit higher than the headline number. ARM Investment Managers gives the formula as:

Yield = (Face Value − Purchase Price) ÷ Purchase Price × (365 ÷ Days to Maturity) × 100%

Say your bank quotes you a 91-day bill with a face value of ₦550,000 for a purchase price of ₦525,000. Plug those into the formula:

(550,000 − 525,000) ÷ 525,000 × (365 ÷ 91) × 100 ≈ 19.1%

That's your true annualised yield — higher than a simple discount rate, because it's calculated on the ₦525,000 you actually paid, not the ₦550,000 you'll get back. Always ask your bank for both the face value and the price you're being debited, and run the numbers yourself before you commit.

Tax on Treasury bill interest in Nigeria

Since a Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) directive reported in Nairametrics in October 2025, banks, stockbrokers and other financial institutions must deduct a 10% withholding tax from interest on short-term securities — including Treasury bills, corporate bonds, promissory notes and bills of exchange — at the point they pay it to you. Interest on Federal Government of Nigeria bonds is specifically exempt from this levy, but Treasury bills are not.

In practice, this means the rate the CBN publishes at auction isn't what lands in your account. A 364-day bill at the 7 October 2026 stop rate of 15.85% effectively pays you about 14.27% after the 10% withholding tax comes off. For most individual investors this deduction is a final tax — you don't need to declare it again — but check with your bank, since Nigeria's wider 2026 tax changes also touch how interest income is treated for businesses.

Is buying Treasury bills in Nigeria worth it right now?

On the numbers as they stand today, it's close. The 364-day bill's 15.85% stop rate works out to roughly 14.27% after the 10% withholding tax — just under Nigeria's 15.39% headline inflation rate for August 2026, the latest figure the National Bureau of Statistics has published. That means a fresh 364-day bill bought today is running close to flat in real terms, not the comfortable inflation-beating return it offered back in July, when the stop rate peaked at 17.70%.

That doesn't make Treasury bills a bad idea — it just changes what they're for. Nobody buys a government security backed by the "full faith and credit" of the Federal Government expecting it to outrun inflation by a wide margin; you buy it because you know exactly what you'll get back, and when, with no market risk attached. If you're weighing where to park money you've set aside after working out your take-home pay — run your salary through our Nigeria PAYE calculator if you haven't already worked out what's actually free to invest — a Treasury bill is a reasonable place for cash you won't need before maturity. It also works for freelancers who've just withdrawn naira from Payoneer and don't need all of it immediately. Just don't expect it to be your whole investment plan while rates keep sliding.

What to watch out for

• Don't aim for the wrong minimum. The ₦50,001,000 figure you'll see quoted is the CBN's direct auction minimum, not what you personally need. Going in expecting to need tens of millions of naira — or being told by someone that ₦50,001 is enough — both waste your time.
• Rollover risk is real right now. Rates have fallen for four straight auctions, from 16.84% in early September to 15.85% by 7 October 2026. If you keep rolling over short 91-day bills expecting the same rate each time, you may be disappointed; locking into the 364-day tenor fixes today's rate for a full year.
• Selling early isn't free. The secondary market makes Treasury bills liquid, but if you cash out before maturity you get whatever the market is paying that day, not the face value you were promised.
• An app isn't the same as a bill. A "Treasury bill" product inside a savings app is usually a pooled fund blending several instruments, with its own fund fact sheet and fee structure — it won't necessarily match the CBN's published auction rate.
• Only buy through a licensed bank, stockbroker or discount house. Treasury bills are sold through CBN-authorised dealers only. Anyone offering you a "better than CBN" rate outside that system is not selling you a real Treasury bill.

Treasury bills suit money you have set aside for a big one-off cost you will not touch for a few months, and building a house in phases is a common reason Nigerians use them this way — see what it actually costs to build a 3-bedroom house in Nigeria right now.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum amount to buy Treasury bills in Nigeria?

Buying directly at the CBN's primary auction needs a minimum subscription of ₦50,001,000. Going through your bank's secondary market desk instead — the route most individuals use — typically needs around ₦100,000, in multiples of ₦10,000 after that, though minimums vary by bank.

What is the current Treasury bill rate in Nigeria?

At the CBN auction on 7 October 2026, the 91-day bill cleared at 15.50%, the 182-day at 15.80% and the 364-day at 15.85%. Rates are set fresh at every auction, so check the latest result with your bank before you commit.

How do I calculate my Treasury bill return?

Use Yield = (Face Value − Purchase Price) ÷ Purchase Price × (365 ÷ Days to Maturity) × 100%. This gives you the true annualised return based on what you actually paid, which is higher than the simple discount rate your bank first quotes you.

Is interest from Treasury bills taxed in Nigeria?

Yes. A 10% withholding tax applies to interest from Treasury bills and other short-term securities, deducted automatically by your bank or broker. Interest on Federal Government of Nigeria bonds is exempt from this tax, but Treasury bills are not.

Can I buy Treasury bills through an app in Nigeria?

Not usually a specific bill. Apps such as Cowrywise and PiggyVest offer money-market or fixed-term products that include Treasury bills alongside other instruments in a pooled fund, which is different from owning a bill directly. To buy an actual Treasury bill with its own maturity date, go through a bank's treasury desk or a licensed stockbroker. If you'd rather hold a pooled fund than a single bill, see our roundup of the best money market funds in Nigeria for current yields and minimums.

What happens if I need my money before the bill matures?

You can sell on the secondary market through your bank or broker, since Treasury bills are liquid. But you'll get whatever price the market is paying that day, which may be less than the face value you'd have received by holding to maturity.