The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has pulled down its tweet requesting for ventilators from South African billionaire, Elon Musk.
Mr Musk, who is also a citizen of the US and Canada, had on Tuesday said his company, Tesla, would distribute ventilators to hospitals worldwide within the company’s delivery regions.
The ministry late Wednesday then tweeted in response, saying Nigeria needs about 100 to 500 ventilators to help with the fight against the coronavirus.
“Dear @elonmusk @Tesla Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100-500 ventilators to assist with #Covid19 cases arising every day in Nigeria,” it said.
However, a statement on Thursday by the Special Adviser, Media and Communications, to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Yunusa Abdullahi, said the tweet was ‘unauthorised’ and had been pulled down.
“An unauthorised post was made on the verified Twitter handle of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning,” he said.
“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.”
Nigerians have been dragging the ministry on Twitter, saying it should have made a formal request to the billionaire for ventilators.
