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”.