On Tuesday, The Naira depreciated further at the parallel market despite the federal government ordered on foreign exchange market speculators. Naira is exchange to dollar for N1,900 in Abuja and Kano and N1,800 in Lagos, while the british ponds was exchange to N2,250.
This occurred after the Bureau De change (BDC) hubs was raided in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and some operators by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday.
However, at the official market, the naira recorded a marginal gain closing at N1,551.24 as against the earlier N1,574.62, according to the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
It was reported that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, had earlier yesterday directed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to clamp down on forex market speculators.
This, he said, was a concerted effort to safeguard Nigeria’s foreign exchange market and combat the activities of speculators, both domestic and international, operating through various channels.
Ribadu, in a statement by Zakari Mijinyawa, Head, Strategic Communications in the Office of the NSA, said the office had to wade in at this time because some individuals and organisations had continued to undermine proactive measures of the Central Bank of Nigeria to stabilise the foreign exchange market and stimulate economic activities.