iDeemlawfulThe Presidency has dismissed claims that a photograph showing President Bola Tinubu with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris, France, was created using artificial intelligence.
In a statement released on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described the reports and the reactions that followed on social media as a “misrepresentation of facts.”
Ajayi maintained that the image was authentic, stating that both presidents met and shared meals on Sunday during their respective 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.”
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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 Ajayi, the controversy arose because the original photograph was taken with a mobile phone and was of low quality, prompting later enhancement 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 faulted reports that suggested otherwise, stressing that proper verification should have been carried out before drawing conclusions.
“The writer or editor should have asked questions before this wrong conclusion,” he added.
Earlier, iDeemlawful had reported that a photograph released by the Presidency showing Tinubu meeting with the Rwandan leader in Paris attracted attention after users on X (formerly Twitter) suggested it was artificially generated.
The image, which carried a Grok watermark—an artificial intelligence tool developed by Elon Musk’s xAI—spread widely across social media platforms on Sunday.
It showed Tinubu and Kagame seated together during what was described as a private engagement in the French capital.
The photograph was shared on the President’s official X handle, where Tinubu said the discussion focused on global issues and Africa’s future.
“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 posted the image, stating, “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 attached to the President’s post suggested the image might not be genuine.
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 referenced artificial intelligence system, is capable of generating images, producing text, and conducting real-time online searches.
The development has renewed debate about the use of AI-enhanced images in official government communication, especially concerning high-level international engagements.
President Tinubu has been in Europe since December 28, after departing Lagos for an end-of-year break.