Nigerians identify 2 platforms as threat to naira, ask FG to close them immediately

The United States dollar has improved against the Nigeria's naira in the official and unofficial markets recently, raising concerns.

Recall that on Friday, April 19, 2024, the naira depreciated against the dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 1.4% or N15.91 to trade at N1,169.99/$1 compared with the previous day's rate of N1.154.08/$1.

Friday makes it the third consecutive trading day of losses for the naira in the official markets.

Similar performance of the naira was recorded in the unofficial markets, as it weakened by N30 against the dollar, quoting at N1,150/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s exchange rate of N1,120/$1.

Lots of Nigerians were concerned about the naira's bad performance considering its recent strong performance in both official and unofficial markets, which positioned it as one of the best-performing currencies in the world.

The fall of the naira has been linked to the return of forex speculators, with the new crypto exchange platforms BYBIT and BITGET as the cause of the latest slip.

Nigerians took to Twitter to talk about these two platforms, with many stating that forex manipulators rushed to crypto platforms to drive up dollar's value for gains.

Vice President Kashim Shettima stated while addressing visitors from the Lagos State Chambers of Commerce(LCCI) in his office, that the naira will soon bounce back.

He said: “The naira went haywire and some people were celebrating. But inwardly, we were laughing at them because we knew that we have the leadership to reverse the trend.

"Asiwaju knows the game, and truly the naira is gaining and the difference will drop further.”

BEB