The Presidency has rejected claims that a photograph showing President Bola Tinubu with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, shared on the President’s official social media accounts, was generated using artificial intelligence.
In a statement released on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described the allegation as false and a distortion of facts.
Ajayi explained that President Tinubu and President Kagame met in Paris on Sunday, January 4, where they had a private lunch before later joining French President Emmanuel Macron for dinner.
President Tinubu had earlier shared the photo on X with the caption: “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.”
Following the post, some social media users questioned the authenticity of the image, claiming it was AI-generated. A community note on X also suggested that although the meeting reportedly took place in Paris, the image “appears to be AI-generated given the GrokAI badge.”
Responding to the controversy, Ajayi said, “The narrative that the picture of Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame taken in Paris yesterday was AI-generated is not correct.”
He maintained that reports and comments suggesting otherwise misrepresented the facts, stressing that the photograph was genuine.
Ajayi explained that the image was taken with a mobile phone and was initially of poor quality, adding that the photographer later used Grok to enhance the picture.
“The picture is real and not AI-generated as claimed,” he said, noting that image enhancement should not be confused with image generation.
Reaffirming the authenticity of the engagement, Ajayi stated that both leaders met and had lunch together in Paris before dining with President Macron later that evening.
