It plans to auction 331.29 billion naira in 91-day, 182-day and 364-day paper in January, 354.93 billion naira in the same range of bills in February and 140.09 billion of same range in March at its twice-monthly auction.

Offshore investors' interest in local debt has surged since the JP Morgan included it in its emerging market government bond index last October. Barclays will add Nigerian debt to its index from March 2013.

Yields on the local debt have consistently been falling in the last two months owing to strong demand for the paper.

Nigeria issues treasury bills regularly as part of monetary control measures to help lenders manage their liquidity and control the money supply.

Africa's top energy producer announced plans on Wednesday to raise between 210-360 billion naira in sovereign bonds ranging between 5 and 20 years in the first quarter of the year.