President Bola Tinubu has come under intense public scrutiny following the circulation of a photo purportedly showing him in a meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, after questions were raised about whether the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
The image, posted on Sunday on Tinubu’s verified X (formerly Twitter) account, quickly went viral. Observers noted that the photo carried a visible Grok watermark, a signature commonly associated with images produced by Grok, the generative AI tool developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s company.
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The watermark prompted swift backlash online, with many Nigerians accusing the presidency of sharing an AI-generated image to depict a high-level diplomatic engagement.
How do you explain to someone close to you that the president of the most populous Black nation uploaded an AI photo of himself and the President of Rwanda?
Clearly, they never met. if they had, there would be no need for an AI image.
Is he scared of Trump already? 😂😂 https://t.co/GrGqKK55d0 pic.twitter.com/oP2uwd18Cj
— Mitchyy 🦙 (@Veryblackmitch) January 4, 2026
This is wrong, how can you post an AI picture with another President and still tag him to see that you're truly good in faking everything https://t.co/Dxe9r6Lp1W pic.twitter.com/tk7Tz3nuAl
— Joshua Century (@linkman2028) January 4, 2026
This is not good, a country's president talks about a meeting with another president and then backs it up with an AI generated picture.
Very shameful https://t.co/xLsDsV6qHh pic.twitter.com/6XKzTveZoC
— Adebayo Glover (@AdebayoGlover) January 4, 2026
Amid the controversy, X users added a community note to the post, describing the image as AI-generated and urging caution. Adding to the scepticism, a review of President Kagame’s personal and official X accounts showed no photographs or posts referencing the alleged meeting with Tinubu in Paris, France.
Background
According to the presidency, President Tinubu met Kagame on Sunday in Paris, where both leaders reportedly had lunch before later attending a dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. The presidency maintains that the engagement was real and that the image shared online was authentic.
Reacting to the backlash, Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, dismissed claims that the image was fabricated.
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The narrative that the picture of Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame taken in Paris yesterday was AI generated is not correct.
The media report and social media comments that followed are misrepresentation of facts.
The picture is real and not AI generated as…
— Bayo Onanuga, OON, CON (@aonanuga1956) January 5, 2026
“The narrative that the picture of Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame taken in Paris yesterday was AI-generated is not correct,” Ajayi said. “The picture is real and not AI-generated as claimed.”
He explained that the photograph was taken with a phone and initially suffered from poor quality, prompting the use of the AI tool for enhancement.
“The picture was taken with a phone and obviously had poor quality,” Ajayi said. “The photographer only later used Grok to improve the picture quality. That is not a reason to conclude it was AI-generated.”
Despite this explanation, critics pointed to the Grok watermark as evidence that the image may not have been merely enhanced but generated outright, keeping the controversy alive.
So, is the photo truly AI-generated?
The community note on the Tinubu post reads: “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.”
A closer examination of the claim presents a more nuanced picture and suggests that the note may have harshly judged the origin of the photo.
A check by EKO HOT BLOG appears to lend weight to the presidency’s position. When Grok was asked to enhance the quality of a random photo of President Tinubu, the AI tool returned images bearing the same watermark seen on the Tinubu-Kagame picture. This suggests that Grok also applies its watermark to enhanced images, not only to fully generated ones.
Also, the photograph shared by the presidency appears significantly more realistic than typical images generated entirely by Grok, which often display subtle distortions or artificial textures.
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Even so, the episode has proven damaging. While available evidence suggests the photo may not have been wholly AI-generated, the decision to post an image bearing an AI watermark has caused deep embarrassment for the Nigerian presidency.
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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