Folarin Kehinde

The Presidency has debunked reports claiming that a photograph of President Bola Tinubu and Rwandan President Paul Kagame taken in Paris, France, was generated using artificial intelligence.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described the reports and subsequent social media commentary as a “misrepresentation of facts.”

Ajayi insisted that the photograph was genuine, explaining that both leaders met and shared meals on Sunday during their engagements in Paris.

He said, “The narrative that the picture of Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame taken in Paris yesterday was AI-generated is not correct.”

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 stemmed from the poor quality of the original phone photograph, which was later enhanced using 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,” Ajayi said.

He criticised 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.

It was earlier 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 (formerly Twitter) flagged it as artificially generated.

The image, which bore the watermark of Grok, an AI tool developed by Elon Musk’s xAI company, circulated widely on social media on Sunday.

It showed Tinubu and Kagame seated together during what was described as a private engagement in the French capital.

The photograph appeared on the President’s official X handle, where Tinubu said the discussions centred on international 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.

His 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 suggested 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 referenced, is capable of producing text, generating images, and running real-time online searches.

The controversy has triggered conversations about the appropriateness of using AI-processed images in official government communications, particularly where international engagements are involved.

Tinubu has been in Europe since December 28, having left Lagos for an end-of-year break.