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

The image, which went viral shortly after it was posted by President Tinubu and members of his media team, showed both leaders seated together during what was described as a private engagement in the French capital.

In a post accompanying the image, President Tinubu said the meeting focused on global and African issues. “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,” he wrote.

The claim was echoed by the President’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, who posted that President Tinubu met President Kagame for a private lunch in Paris. Similarly, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the two leaders discussed world affairs and Africa’s advancement during the meeting on Sunday, January 4, 2026.

However, an explanatory note later attached to President Tinubu’s post on X cast doubt on the image’s authenticity. The note stated that while a meeting between the two leaders was reported to have taken place in Paris, the image appeared to be AI-generated, citing a GrokAI badge.

Grok is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, the AI company owned by Elon Musk, and is capable of generating images, conducting real-time searches and producing text responses.

The development has raised concerns among Nigerians about the use of an AI-generated image in official presidential communication, especially on an issue involving international diplomacy.

Although President Tinubu tagged President Kagame in the post, neither the image nor any reference to the alleged meeting appeared on Kagame’s verified X account. As of the time of filing this report, the Rwandan leader’s most recent post related to English football club Arsenal FC and was dated November 27.

The Presidency has yet to explain why an AI-generated image was used to depict the meeting or clarify whether an authentic photograph from the reported engagement exists.