Vice-President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria did not apply to
join BRICS, an economic bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South
Africa.
Shettima represented President Bola Tinubu at the 15th BRICS
summit which held this week at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg,
South Africa.
BRICS, which considers itself a counterweight to western
powers, disclosed at the end of the summit that new members would be joining
its fold from January 1 next year.
The new members are Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
With many still wondering why Nigeria did not make the cut
of new members, Shettima said the country never applied for BRICS membership in
the first instance.
“So far, we have not applied for the membership of BRICS,”
Channels Television quoted Shettima as saying on the sidelines of the summit.
“And it is majorly informed by the fact that my principal
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a true democrat that believes in consensus
building.
“There are so many
variables that need to be taken into cognisance.
“We have to evaluate so many tendencies and issues that
require engagements with the economic advisory council, the federal executive
council, and even the national assembly, before an informed decision towards
joining the BRICS would be taken.”
More than 40 countries expressed interest in joining BRICS,
with 23 formally applying to be part of the club.
Some 50 other heads of state and leaders attended the summit
in South Africa.
BRICS has been in formal existence for 15 years.
Its expansion is considered part of a plan to forge
dominance and reshape global governance, with voices of the south at the centre
of this new world order.
Shettima said he was asked to attend the summit by his
principal because the Tinubu administration “which began less than three months
ago, is examining the variables and evaluating the scope and level of regional
and global cooperation to pursue in order to establish Nigeria as the desired
friend and partner”.
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