The country's bank central bank also raised interest rates from 12% to 13% in a bid to stem foreign reserve loses.
Nigeria has spent billions of dollars defending the naira using "dwindling foreign reserves", the bank's governor said.
Falling oil prices also affected the Angolan kwanza, which hit a record low against the dollar on Tuesday.
The bank's governor Godwin Emefiele said: "Falling oil prices have consistently reduced the accretion to external reserves, thus constraining the ability of the bank to continually defend the naira and sustain the stability of the naira exchange rate."
The bank moved the target band of the currency to 160-176 naira to the US dollar, compared with 150-160 naira previously.
It also raised interest rates by 100 basis points.
Nigeria, which has one of the biggest economies in Africa, and is one of the continent's leading energy producers, has spent billions of dollars in the past year shoring up the naira, Mr Emefiele said.
Foreign reserves stood at around $37bn (Â£23.5bn), down over 18% from a year ago.
"Big surprises from the central bank," said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered.
"With these moves the central bank has shown absolute commitment to dealing with current challenges," she said. "They have not shied away from the tightening needed to sustain current FX [foreign exchange] reserves."
Meanwhile, Angola's kwanza traded traded as low as 100.895 against the dollar before recovering some ground to 100.700 on Tuesday.
Angola is Africa's biggest oil producer after Nigeria.

Becky, 16, was killed by her step-brother during a sexually-motivated kidnapping at her home in Bristol on 19 February last year.
Her aunt, Sarah Broom, said relatives plan to mark Becky's "big birthday" - her 18th - in June with a party.
They also hope to start a charity to help those whose relatives go missing.
Nathan Matthews was jailed for life for Becky's murder, to serve a minimum of 33 years , while his girlfriend Shauna Hoare was given a 17-year sentence for manslaughter.
Ms Broom said the family had struggled to "return to normality" after her killers were jailed.
"It was really strange finishing the trial, you kind of miss it because that has been your fight and then when it's done, you're kind of lost," she said.
"Where do you channel all that now? We've tried to put it into events, fundraising and just trying to build happy memories as well.
"We threw her a party for her 17th birthday. We went to her grave and sang Happy Birthday."
Becky's uncle Sam Galsworthy said: "It's destroyed us all but it's also brought us closer together. We're closer than we've ever been I think."
The couple said community support during Becky's disappearance had been "amazing", and said she "couldn't have had the funeral or headstone" without it.
Becky was reported missing on 19 February 2015 and her remains were found in suitcases in a shed, in Barton Hill, nearly two weeks later on 3 March.
Ms Broom spoke about the "desperation" they felt during the search for their niece, and said the family was aiming to set up a charity in Becky's name to help others whose loved ones go missing.
"We found the expense of just poster printing and arranging our own searches, we're just an ordinary family and we didn't have the resources.
"Our aim is to make it easier for another family," she said.
Nigeria has devalued the naira, saying a drop in oil prices had made it hard to defend its currency.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
The family of murdered teenager Becky Watts has vowed to mark the "sad milestones" of her life with "happy memories" a year after her death.