Claims that a photograph of President Bola Tinubu and Rwandan President Paul Kagame taken in Paris, France, was generated using artificial intelligence has been debunked by the Presidency.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, in a statement issued on Monday, described the reports and subsequent social media commentary as a “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.” Ajayi insisted that the photograph was genuine, adding that the two leaders met and shared meals on Sunday during their engagements in Paris. “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.” He explained
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.
Ajayi urged the public to exercise caution in consuming and sharing unverified information, warning that misinformation—especially involving the President—could undermine public trust and diplomatic engagements. He reaffirmed the Presidency’s commitment to transparency and accurate communication, stressing that official activities of the President would always be properly documented and verifiable.
Earlier, a photograph released by the Presidency showing President Tinubu in a meeting with his Rwandan counterpart in Paris sparked widespread attention after users on X, formerly known as Twitter, questioned its authenticity and suggested it may have been artificially generated.
