The Central Bank of Nigeria sold approximately N17.51 trillion in Open Market Operations (OMO) bills in September 2026, while about N10.89 trillion in maturing bills was repaid over the same period, leaving a net liquidity withdrawal of roughly N6.62 trillion.
Nairametrics' analysis of CBN auctions and repayments data shows that the gross sales came from five OMO auctions conducted on September 1, 8, 16, 24 and 29. The N17.51 trillion allotted was about 2.7 times the cumulative N6.4 trillion initially offered, but large repayments during the month meant that a significant portion of the liquidity absorbed through new sales had first been returned to the financial system through maturing OMO bills.
Five OMO maturities worth approximately N10.89 trillion were recorded during September, equivalent to roughly 62 percent of the N17.51 trillion in gross sales. This left the CBN with net liquidity absorption of about N6.62 trillion, or 38 percent of the total amount sold.
The CBN repaid N62 billion on September 7, followed by N3.07 trillion on September 8. Another N3.06 trillion matured on September 15, while N2.27 trillion was repaid on September 22. The final major maturity came on September 29, when N2.433 trillion was returned to the financial system. Against these repayments, the CBN recorded OMO sales of N2.88 trillion, N4.40 trillion, N3.29 trillion, N2.255 trillion and N4.686 trillion across the five September auctions.
The figures indicate that much of September's OMO activity involved replacing maturing securities with fresh instruments rather than the entire N17.51 trillion representing additional liquidity withdrawal.
The scale of net absorption varied considerably across the month. The September 1 auction and September 7 maturity produced net absorption of about N2.82 trillion, based on N2.88 trillion in sales against N62 billion repaid. On September 8, N4.40 trillion was sold against N3.07 trillion repaid, leaving a net withdrawal of about N1.33 trillion. Around September 15 and 16, reported sales of N3.29 trillion exceeded the N3.06 trillion repayment by about N236 billion, while the September 22 and 24 transactions resulted in a marginal net injection of roughly N15 billion. On September 29, N4.686 trillion in OMO sales exceeded the N2.433 trillion same-day maturity by about N2.25 trillion.
