Investors’ Subscriptions for CBN’s OMO Rise to N20.6tn in September after Bank Widens Access

*Apex bank clarifies MPR reset targets broken link between policy, market rates

James Emejo in Abuja and Kayode Tokede in Lagos

Following the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to open its market operations to individuals, companies and non-bank financial institutions, investors’ subscriptions for the apex bank’s Open Market Operations (OMO) bills rose to N20.6 trillion in September 2026, from N18.72 trillion in August, data from the apex bank has shown.
The N1.88 trillion increase represents growth of about 10 per cent, as CBN data showed September’s subscription was the highest recorded this year.

This is just as the apex bank said its recent adjustment of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was not an easing of monetary policy, but a deliberate reset to close the widening gap between its benchmark rate and actual money-market conditions.
The CBN uses OMO auctions to manage liquidity in the financial system by issuing bills to absorb excess funds and buying securities when it seeks to inject liquidity.

Its August decision to widen participation has given more investors access to the bills through deposit money banks.
So far in September, the CBN has offered N3.9 trillion at OMO auctions, compared with N3.8 trillion in August.
Successful bids totalled N12.82 trillion, up from N12.02 trillion in the preceding month. The figures suggest that demand has remained strong despite the liquidity already withdrawn from the system.

In a circular dated August 12, 2026, the Acting Director of the CBN’s Financial Markets Department, Mr. Okey Umeano, said eligible investors could participate in both the primary and secondary OMO markets through deposit money banks.
The CBN also removed certain restrictions that had prevented banks participating in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market or purchasing government securities at primary auctions from accessing its Discount Window on the same day.

However, the restriction on accessing the Discount Window and participating in an OMO auction on the same day remains.
At the September 24 auction, the stop rate on a 152-day OMO bill was about 17.29 per cent.
Analysts said the wider access and attractive returns could intensify competition for funds between fixed-income instruments and equities.
The Managing Director of Highcap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adonri, said the growth in OMO activity reflected the CBN’s efforts to absorb excess liquidity.
**
Apex Bank Clarifies MPR Reset Targets Broken Link Between Policy, Market Rates**

Meanwhile, the CBN has clarified that its recent adjustment of the MPR was not an easing of monetary policy, but a deliberate reset to close the widening gap between its benchmark rate and actual money-market conditions.
The apex bank said the move aimed to restore alignment between the policy signal and where liquidity and interest rates were trading in the financial markets.

Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Financial Markets and Economic Policy, Mr. Mayokun Ajibade, explained that the distinction was important because the central bank’s policy stance remained “very restrictive” despite the adjustment in the benchmark rate.
Speaking during the “Drinks & Mics” session on Nairametrics TV, Ajibade said the latest decision should be understood as part of a longer process of rebuilding the monetary policy framework and making the MPR a more effective signal for the wider financial system.

“When you see the words ‘reset’ and ‘calibrate’, it is basically trying to tell the market something,” he said, stressing that “we did not ease.”
He added that “Policy stance is still very, very restrictive. What I think was delivered was a journey to reset.”
The comments came against the backdrop of the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) September decision to cut the MPR by 350 basis points from 26.5 per cent to 23 per cent.
Ajibade noted that while the MPR had stood at 26.5 per cent, the SDF rate stood around 22 per cent, while the market yield curve had already moved considerably lower.

The divergence, he said, sent mixed signals about the actual direction of monetary policy.
Ajibade pointed to movements in the fixed-income market as evidence that the financial system had already begun adjusting to changing conditions.

“The market was already doing something,” he said.
The reset, he added, was partly an effort to align the official policy framework with the reality already emerging in the market.
Ajibade stressed that the move did not represent a return to indiscriminate monetary expansion, pointing out that the CBN had not simultaneously released large volumes of additional liquidity into the banking system.
The challenge for the CBN, therefore, was to influence the price of money while retaining sufficient control over liquidity to prevent renewed inflationary pressures.

Beyond the immediate rate adjustment, Ajibade said the CBN was working to strengthen the institutional architecture through which it transmits monetary policy.
He identified the development of the yield curve, overnight markets, repo transactions, fixed-income instruments and the foreign exchange market as part of the broader effort to establish reliable mechanisms for price discovery.
For monetary policy to work effectively, he stressed that changes in the CBN’s policy rate must be reflected predictably across financial markets.

He also linked the process to the wider effort to rebuild confidence in Nigeria’s economic institutions, pointing out that structural reforms could not be judged solely by their immediate political or economic optics.
He further described the relationship between fiscal, monetary and other economic management institutions as increasingly constructive, noting that disagreements among policymakers were part of the process of arriving at better decisions.

He said effort to make the country’s financial markets more functional was also reflected in the country’s recent return to a J.P. Morgan local-currency bond benchmark.

Ajibade said the development tested whether reforms to the foreign exchange and fixed-income markets had addressed structural concerns that had previously made Nigerian assets difficult for international investors to access.

He said the authorities, working with the Debt Management Office (DMO), had been addressing the deeper market conditions required for international investors to enter, trade and exit Nigerian securities efficiently.

Nigeria was removed from J.P. Morgan’s flagship local-currency bond index in 2015 amid concerns including foreign exchange liquidity, capital repatriation and market accessibility.

Ajibade said the authorities therefore focused on several interconnected issues, including FX liquidity, the depth of the domestic bond market, and the availability of sufficiently large and tradable benchmark securities.

The CBN adviser further disclosed that the apex bank was working with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to improve data on Nigeria’s largely unmeasured informal economy, particularly informal cross-border trade.

He said the objective was to establish the scale and composition of transactions outside formal channels, arguing that effective policy could not be designed around poorly measured activities.