Naira, on Friday, weakened to N607 per dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market amid increased demand.

The figure represents a drop of N7 or 1.2 percent from the N600 it traded earlier this week.

Currency traders known as Bureaux De Change operators (BDCs), who spoke to our correspondent in Lagos, quoted the buying rate of the greenback at N598 and the selling price at N607 per dollar.

A parallel market (street market) is characterised by noncompliant behaviour with an institutional set of rules.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has consistently maintained that the parallel market represents less than one percent of foreign exchange transactions and should never be used to determine Nigeria’s naira/dollar exchange.

On the official market side, the naira depreciated by 0.26 percent to close at N420.33 to a dollar on Thursday, according to data on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria.

Bloomberg had reported that there is a huge demand for dollars in cash from politicians competing for support from delegates in the party primaries.

“Dollars is the unofficial currency in Abuja and other parts of the country in terms of the prestige and more importantly, the convenience,” the news agency quoted Idayat Hassan, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), as saying.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) plan to hold primary elections for legislative, governorship, and presidential candidates next week.

The Cable