The Presidency has rejected claims that a photograph showing President Bola Tinubu meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris was generated by artificial intelligence, describing the narrative as false and misleading.

In a statement issued on Monday, Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said reports by Vanguard and reactions on social media alleging that the image was AI-generated amounted to a deliberate misrepresentation of facts.

Ajayi clarified that the photograph is authentic and was taken during a real meeting between both leaders in Paris on Sunday. According to him, President Tinubu and President Kagame met earlier in the day and had lunch together, before later joining French President Emmanuel Macron for dinner the same evening.

He explained that the image was captured with a mobile phone, which accounted for its initial poor quality. The photograph was later enhanced using Grok to improve clarity, a step he said should not be misconstrued as evidence that the image itself was artificially generated.

Ajayi criticised those who circulated the AI claims, noting that basic verification and fact-checking would have prevented the erroneous conclusion. He urged media organisations and commentators to exercise greater responsibility by seeking clarification before publishing or amplifying unverified claims.