The Presidency has refuted claims that a photograph of President Bola Tinubu and Rwandan President Paul Kagame taken in Paris, France, was created using artificial intelligence.
Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, issued a statement on Monday calling the allegations and following social media criticism a “misrepresentation of facts.”
Ajayi confirmed that the photograph was real, stating that the two leaders met and shared meals on Sunday during their activities in Paris.
He added, “Both President Kagame and President Tinubu met in Paris and had lunch together on Sunday. The two leaders later had dinner with President Macron the same evening.”
According to him, the controversy arose from the low quality of the original phone photograph, which was then improved with the Grok tool.
“The picture was taken with a phone and obviously had poor quality. The photographer only later used Grok to improve the picture quality. That is not a reason to conclude it was AI-generated,” the Presidency said.
He condemned reports suggesting otherwise, saying journalists should have verified the information before publication.
“The writer or editor should have asked questions before this wrong conclusion,” he added.
Chronicle NG had reported that a photograph released by the Presidency showing Tinubu in a meeting with the Rwandan President in Paris had drawn attention after users on X flagged it as artificially generated.
The image, which had the watermark of Grok, an AI tool created by Elon Musk’s xAI company, went viral on social media on Sunday.
It shows Tinubu and Kagame sitting together during a private event in the French city.
The photo came on the President’s official X handle, and Tinubu stated that the discussions focused on world developments and the future of the African continent.
“This afternoon, I had a private lunch with H.E. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda to discuss the current state of world affairs and advancing Africa in an ever-changing global landscape,” the president wrote.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, also shared the same image, adding, “President Bola Tinubu at a private lunch in Paris with the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, discussing world affairs and advancing Africa. Sunday, January 4, 2026.”
However, a Community Note added to the President’s post revealed that the picture might not be authentic.
It read, “While a meeting between Mr. Tinubu and President Kagame is reported to have been held in Paris, the image in this post appears to be AI-generated, given the GrokAI badge.”
Grok, the AI system mentioned, is capable of creating text and graphics and conducting real-time online searches.
The scandal has sparked debate concerning the appropriateness of utilizing AI-processed photographs in official government communications, particularly in foreign contexts.
Tinubu has been in Europe since December 28, when he left Lagos for an end-of-year trip.
