Ministry of Finance Disowns Tweet Pleading For Ventilators From US Billionaire After Outrage From Nigerians

The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has disowned a tweet that emanated from its verified Twitter account appealing for help with ventilators from US billionaire, Elon Musk.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, said the message was unauthorized and has been pulled down.

“An unauthorised post was made on the verified Twitter handle of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

“The fact of the post is regrettable because of which it is brought down. We have made sure our internal processes are strengthened that such doesn’t happen again.

“The error is highly regrettable” he said.

Musk, had tweeted on Thursday that his firm had extra ventilators that had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in America.

“We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. We will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients and not stored in a warehouse,” his said.

The ministry replied, “Dear @Elonmusk @Tesla Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100 to 500 ventilators to assist with Covid-19 cases rising every day in Nigeria.”

The Ministry’s tweet was trailed by outrage from Nigerians who accused it of ridiculing the country.