Fact CHECK: Did Elon Musk say he would buy Nigeria, Facebook?

There have been claims on social media suggesting that Elon Musk who recently bought Twitter for $44 billion is planning to buy Nigeria and fix its economy; then buy Facebook and consequently delete it. In one tweet, the handle @elonmusk was quoted to have said, “Now, I am going buy Facebook and delete it.” Things […]

There have been claims on social media suggesting that Elon Musk who recently bought Twitter for $44 billion is planning to buy Nigeria and fix its economy; then buy Facebook and consequently delete it.

In one tweet, the handle @elonmusk was quoted to have said, “Now, I am going buy Facebook and delete it.”

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The richest man in the world reportedly tweeted the statement on April 25, 2022 at 9:35am and it had attracted over 136,000 retweets, 27,000 quote tweets, and 950,000 likes.

Musk had taken a major stake in Twitter earlier this month before lining up last week some $46.5 billion in financing to push forward with the purchase.

Twitter board chair Bret Taylor said the body “conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing.”

Also, in a screenshot tweet making the rounds, Musk was quoted as saying he “hopes to buy Nigeria as a country. Then fix her economy.”

Verification

Checks by Daily Trust showed that the tweets must have been done from a parody account as a quick search from the American billionaire’s Twitter account @elonmusk did not contain any tweets of such.

However, the only tweet relating to purchase of any platform or commodity by the Tesla owner was the one he tweeted in the early hours of Thursday when he wrote, “Next I am buying Coca-Cola to put the Cocaine back in.”

Musk had also on the same day replied to a similar screenshot that looks like the one in circulation with the caption: “Now I’m going to buy McDonald’s and fix all of the ice cream machines…” His reply said, “Listen, I can’t do miracles ok.”

Conclusion

The tweets that Elon Musk wanted to buy Nigeria fix her economy; then buy Facebook and delete it are false as they did not emanate from him. The screenshot tweet in circulation was photo-shopped.

This fact check was done in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).