The Nigerian Presidency has formally responded to widespread media and public speculation surrounding a photograph that showed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu alongside Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame in Paris, dismissing claims that the image was fabricated or generated by artificial intelligence.
In an official statement, Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, addressed the controversy, describing the narrative that the image was “AI-generated” as false and a misrepresentation of facts. Ajayi maintained that the photograph was genuine, taken during an actual meeting between the two presidents in Paris. 
According to the Presidency, both leaders met in Paris on Sunday, 4th of January 2026, where they shared a private lunch as part of President Tinubu’s engagements in the French capital. Ajayi said later that evening, the duo also attended a dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, reinforcing the reality of their in-person interaction.
The image in question, which quickly circulated on President Tinubu’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, bore a visible watermark from Grok, an artificial intelligence tool developed by xAI, the AI company founded by Elon Musk. The presence of the watermark prompted several observers and commentators to assert that the photo had been created by AI rather than captured as an authentic record of the event.
In response, Ajayi acknowledged that the original photograph was taken using a mobile phone and was of poor quality. He explained that the photographer subsequently used the Grok tool to enhance the image quality before publication. He emphasised that this enhancement should not be interpreted as the image having been AI-generated or fabricated. “The picture was taken with a phone and obviously had poor quality. The photographer later used Grok to improve the picture quality. That is not a reason to conclude it was AI-generated,” Ajayi said.
Social commentator, Agene Zeek, had, on his X (formerly Twitter) account, quickly pointed out the likelihood of this particular scenario, stating that the photo was possibly taken in poor lighting and needed enhancement.
President Tinubu and his aides publicly posted the photograph with accompanying captions detailing the leaders’ discussions on global developments and advancing Africa’s interests.
Samuel Aina