The Presidency on Sunday shared an image purporting to show President Bola Tinubu meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris, but the photograph was later flagged on X (formerly Twitter) as being generated by artificial intelligence.
The image, which quickly went viral, was posted by President Tinubu and his aides, showing both leaders seated in the same space during what was described as a private engagement in the French capital.
In his post, President Tinubu said the meeting focused on global and African affairs.
“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.
Echoing the claim, the president’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, posted: “President Bola Tinubu at a private lunch in Paris with the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.”
Similarly, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, wrote: “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, an X note appended to President Tinubu’s post cast doubt on the authenticity of the image. The note stated: “While a meeting between Mr Tinubu and President Kagame is reported to have held in Paris, the image in this post appears to be AI-generated, given the GrokAI badge.”
Grok is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, the artificial intelligence company owned by Elon Musk.
The tool is capable of generating images, conducting real-time searches and producing text-based responses.
However, the development has sparked questions among Nigerians over the use of an AI-generated image in official presidential communication, particularly on a matter involving international diplomacy.
Although President Tinubu tagged President Kagame in the post, neither the image nor any reference to the meeting appeared on Kagame’s verified X account.
As of the time of filing this report, the Rwandan leader’s last post was about English football club Arsenal FC, dated November 27.
But reacting to the report, Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity said the the media report and social media comments over the image are misrepresentation of facts.
He said:
“The narrative that the picture of Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame taken in Paris yesterday was AI generated is not correct.
“The media report and social media comments that followed are misrepresentation of facts.
“The picture is real and not AI generated as claimed.
“Both President Kagame and President Tinubu met in Paris had lunch together on Sunday (yesterday).
“They two leaders later had dinner with President Macron same yesterday evening. 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 writer or editor should have asked questions before this wrong conclusion.”
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