Treasury Bills in Nigeria
Nigerian Treasury Bills (T-bills) are short-term debt securities issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on behalf of the Federal Government, in 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors. You buy at a discount below face value and receive the full face value at maturity, the difference is your return. They're widely used by individuals and institutions as a lower-default-risk, short-term place to hold naira. This page is your complete overview, with links through to our detailed guides on how to actually invest, current rates, and how T-bills compare to money market mutual funds and bank fixed deposits.
What are Treasury Bills in Nigeria?
A Treasury Bill is a short-term loan you make to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The CBN issues them on behalf of the Debt Management Office, in standard tenors of 91, 182, and 364 days. Because they're a direct government obligation, they're generally regarded as lower credit risk than most other short-term naira instruments, though that specifically refers to default risk, not an absence of risk altogether.
Unlike a bank fixed deposit, a T-bill doesn't pay separate interest. It's a discount instrument: you pay less than the ₦1,000-per-unit face value upfront, and receive the full face value back at maturity.
How Treasury Bills work
- You choose a tenor, 91, 182, or 364 days.
- You pay a discounted price, set by the prevailing auction or secondary-market rate.
- Your money is committed for that tenor. T-bills are generally intended to be held to maturity, though you can usually sell early in the secondary market at the prevailing price.
- At maturity, you receive the full face value. The gap between what you paid and what you receive is your return.
The formula: Yield = (Face Value − Purchase Price) ÷ Purchase Price × (365 ÷ Days to Maturity) × 100. This effective annualised yield is always a bit higher than the headline discount/marginal rate, because it's measured against what you actually paid, not the face value. CBN's own Government Securities Summary page publishes "Marginal Rate" and "True Yield" as separate data fields for every auction, confirmed directly on cbn.gov.ng.
Tenors
Tenor | Length | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
91-day | ~3 months | Very short-term parking of funds |
182-day | ~6 months | Medium-term |
364-day | ~1 year | Longest standard tenor, often the highest rate of the three |
Current rates
Rates reset at every CBN auction, roughly every two weeks, so any specific number quoted on an overview page like this one would be stale within days. For the latest verified figures, dated to their exact auction, see our regularly updated Treasury Bills Rates in Nigeria page.
How to buy Treasury Bills in Nigeria
In brief: choose a bank, stockbroker, or investment app; complete KYC (valid ID, BVN); pick your amount and tenor; fund the discounted purchase price; get confirmation; hold to maturity or manage an early exit if needed. For the complete step-by-step process, including how to choose a provider and what to check before investing, see our full guide: How to Invest in Treasury Bills in Nigeria.
Minimum investment
There isn't one single minimum, it depends on your access route:
- Primary-market auction (CBN): ₦50,001,000, in multiples of ₦1,000, stated directly in CBN's own Invitation to Tender notices. This tier is realistically institutional and high-net-worth territory. Individual investors generally don't bid directly, they access this route through an eligible dealer.
- Secondary market: minimums vary by dealer/provider, some cite amounts around ₦50,000.
- Retail access via a bank, broker, or app: typically a few thousand to a few hundred thousand naira, varying by provider and structure.
Why bank quotes aren't a fixed "rate today"
A common search is a specific bank's Treasury Bill rate, but no Nigerian bank actually sets its own fixed rate the way it might quote an exchange rate. Zenith Bank's own FAQ page confirms this directly: there are "no specific rates for Treasury Bills," since purchase happens through the CBN's auction bid system or the interbank Two Way Quote secondary market, both of which move with each auction, not with the bank's own pricing.
Banks like UBA, GTBank, Access Bank, First Bank, and Stanbic IBTC all act as intermediaries giving customers access to T-bills, either at primary-market pricing (subject to the CBN's minimum) or secondary-market pricing, but none publish a standing rate independent of the market. The rate you're quoted depends on the current auction or secondary-market conditions at the time you ask, and can include a spread the bank builds in for aggregating smaller retail amounts. The practical approach: ask your bank's investment desk for their current quote on your preferred tenor, then compare it against the CBN's own latest published rate on our rates page to see whether the gap looks reasonable.
Risks
Treasury Bills are widely regarded as one of the lower-default-risk naira investments available, but that's specifically about default risk. Other risks: inflation risk (your return is fixed at purchase, the cost of living isn't), opportunity cost, early-exit price risk if you sell before maturity, and reinvestment risk when you roll over at maturity.
Taxation
Since 28 October 2025, per an FIRS Public Notice applying the Deduction of Tax at Source (Withholding) Regulations, 2024, a 10% withholding tax applies to interest earned on Treasury Bills, deducted at source by the paying institution. Interest on FGN Bonds is expressly exempt. Some older pages, including a few bank product pages not yet updated, still describe T-bill interest as tax-exempt, that predates this change and shouldn't be relied on.
Treasury Bills vs other short-term options
- Money market mutual funds: pooled, professionally managed funds with more flexible liquidity but a variable return. See Mutual Funds vs Treasury Bills in Nigeria.
- Bank fixed deposits: interest calculated on your full principal, rather than a discount mechanic. See Fixed Deposit vs Treasury Bills in Nigeria.