Tuggar: Nigeria will join BRICS at the right time

Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, says Nigeria has indicated an interest in joining BRICS — an economic bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Tuggar spoke on Sunday on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’.

BACKGROUND

In August 2023, Vice-President Kashim Shettima represented President Bola Tinubu at the 15th BRICS summit which held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.

BRICS, which considers itself a counterweight to western powers, has been in formal existence for 16 years.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the group on January 1, 2024. More than 40 countries had expressed interest in joining BRICS, with 23 formally applying to be part of the club.

The expansion of the bloc is considered part of a plan to forge dominance and reshape global governance, with voices of the global south at the centre of this new world order.

‘NIGERIA YET TO FORMALLY APPLY’

Asked if it was not on the agenda of the President Tinubu administration to join BRICS, Tuggar said Nigeria would join the bloc at the right time.

He added that Nigeria is yet to formally apply to join.

“We’ll join when the time is right. We never said we are not joining BRICS. It is about timing. We have already indicated our interest in joining but we have not formally written,” he said.

“We will do so at the right time when it is the most advantageous for us to do so. There are a lot of reforms going on internally for us to be able to make that move.

“Tinubu was in China recently and Vice-President Shettima visited China before that and in all the engagements, we have made it clear that we are interested in joining BRICS at the right time.”

DEBT FORGIVENESS

The minister also said Nigeria is not discussing debt forgiveness with China.

At the recent 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, President Bola Tinubu, who was represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, pushed for a reform of the international financial system to include “comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development”.

Asked whether Nigeria is in talks with Beijing for debt relief given Tinubu’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the minister said that was not the case.

“No, that is not what we are discussing with China. And when it comes to the issue of debt, look at the debt-to-GDP ratio of Nigeria, we are not even among the critically indebted nations,” he said.

“When you talk about the debt of a developing country, Nigeria is not in that sort of precarious situation.

“As a matter of fact, China is prepared to lend more, China is prepared to invest more in Nigeria in terms of infrastructure development and other things.”