The Presidency has moved swiftly to debunk viral social media claims that a recent photograph of President Bola Tinubu alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame was created using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In a formal clarification issued on Monday, January 5, 2026, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, insisted the image is a genuine capture of a high-level diplomatic engagement. According to the Presidency, both leaders met in Paris on Sunday for lunch before joining French President Emmanuel Macron for a scheduled dinner later that evening.
The controversy erupted after online analysts pointed to unusual textures in the image, suggesting it was a deepfake. However, Ajayi explained that the anomaly was the result of post-production editing rather than AI generation.
“The picture was taken with a phone and obviously had poor quality,” Ajayi explained. “The photographer later used Grok to improve the picture quality. That is not a reason to conclude it was AI-generated.”
The Presidency criticized media outlets and commentators for jumping to conclusions without proper fact-checking. Ajayi noted that a simple inquiry would have prevented the spread of misinformation regarding the President’s international activities.
“The writer or editor should have asked questions before arriving at such a wrong conclusion,” the statement added, urging the public to remain vigilant against “fake news” narratives surrounding sensitive diplomatic issues.