The Presidency has dismissed claims circulating online that a photograph showing President Bola Tinubu with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris was generated using artificial intelligence, describing the narrative as misleading and based on poor assumptions.
Reacting to the controversy, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, said the photograph was genuine and captured during a meeting between the two leaders in Paris. He explained that President Tinubu and President Kagame met and had lunch together on Sunday, after which they later joined French President Emmanuel Macron for dinner the same evening.
Ajayi attributed the confusion to the quality of the image, noting that it was originally taken with a mobile phone and appeared unclear. According to him, the photographer later used digital tools to enhance the image quality, a process he said was wrongly interpreted by some media reports and social media users as evidence of artificial intelligence manipulation.
“The picture is real and not AI-generated as claimed,” Ajayi said, faulting reports that suggested otherwise. He added that the enhancement of the image did not in any way alter its authenticity.
The presidential aide criticised what he described as a misrepresentation of facts by some outlets, including a report that triggered widespread online commentary. He stressed that journalists and editors should have verified the details before drawing conclusions.
Ajayi maintained that the meeting between the two presidents indeed took place as reported, urging the public to disregard claims questioning the authenticity of the photograph and to rely on verified information from credible sources.
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