COVID-19: Buhari govt says it regrets begging US billionaire for ventilators

President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of Nigeria has described as highly regrettable its begging for ventilators from a United States (US) billionaire.

The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, had in a tweet, begged the American billionaire, Elon Musk for ventilators.

It said the ventilators would enable the government to provide treatment for the Coronavirus patients within Nigeria.

The plea for favour came after Musk, the founder and Chief Engineer, SpaceX, on Thursday said in a Twitter post that his firm had extra ventilators that had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in America.

In its response, Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning wrote:

“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.”

But after Nigerians took to different media platforms to attack the ministry for making such a demand, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance on Media and Communications issued a disclaimer.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Nigerian govt begs Tesla for ventilators as virus infections surge

He said, “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.”

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