Presidency Under Fire Over AI-Generated Image Of Tinubu–Kagame Paris Meeting

The Presidency on Sunday shared a photograph claiming to show President Bola Tinubu in a meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris, but the image was later flagged on X as being generated by artificial intelligence.

The photograph, which circulated rapidly online, was posted by President Tinubu and some of his aides, and appeared to show both leaders seated together during what was described as a private engagement in the French capital.

In his post, President Tinubu stated that the discussion centred on global and African affairs.

https://x.com/officialABAT/status/2007850631579529506/photo/1

“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.

Reinforcing the claim, the President’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, also posted: “President Bola Tinubu at a private lunch in Paris with the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.”

Similarly, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, wrote: “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, an X note attached to President Tinubu’s post questioned the authenticity of the photograph. The note read: “While a meeting between Mr Tinubu and President Kagame is reported to have held in Paris, the image in this post appears to be AI-generated, given the GrokAI badge.”

Grok is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, the technology firm owned by Elon Musk. The tool can create images, generate text responses, and perform real-time searches.

The development has raised public concern over the use of an AI-generated image in official presidential communication, particularly in relation to an international diplomatic engagement.

Although President Tinubu tagged President Kagame in the post, there was no image or reference to the meeting on Kagame’s verified X account.

At the time of filing this report, the Rwandan president’s most recent post was about English football club Arsenal FC, dated November 27.

The Presidency has yet to explain why an AI-generated image was used to represent the meeting, and has not clarified whether an original photograph from the reported engagement exists.