President Bola Tinubu has sparked controversy after posting on X a photo purportedly showing him in a meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, amid signs that the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

The photo, shared on Sunday via the president’s verified X account and amplified by some of his aides, was said to have been taken during a meeting between Tinubu and Kagame in Paris, France.

“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,” Tinubu wrote.

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.@PaulKagame pic.twitter.com/7iiIzXYK5z

— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@officialABAT) January 4, 2026

However, sharp-eyed social media users quickly observed that the image carried a visible Grok watermark at the bottom right corner — a feature commonly associated with images generated by Grok, the generative AI chatbot developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s company.

The presence of the watermark immediately triggered intense debate online, with several Nigerians accusing the presidency of circulating an AI-generated image to suggest a diplomatic engagement that may not have occurred as presented.

An X user wrote: “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?”

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

You know the country is finished when the president starts posting AI generated images. https://t.co/nRMuWs6hrc pic.twitter.com/joXpMXaWYs

— Williams (@WilliamsVrox) January 5, 2026

The controversy deepened when X users added a community note to the president’s post, describing the image as AI-generated and questioning its authenticity. “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,” the note read.

Further fuelling the scepticism, a review of both President Kagame’s personal and official X accounts showed that no photographs or references to such a meeting with Tinubu in Paris were published. The last post on the Rwandan president’s personal X account was one celebrating an Arsenal victory on November 27, 2025. The last post on the Rwandan presidency’s account was a video of Kagame’s End of Year message to Rwandans.

In response to the growing backlash, the presidency denied that the image was fabricated. Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement on Monday, January 5, insisted that the meeting took place and that the photograph was genuine.

Ajayi explained that Tinubu and Kagame met and had lunch in Paris on Sunday, after which they later joined French President Emmanuel Macron for dinner the same evening. According to him, the controversy arose from post-production enhancement rather than image fabrication.

“The photographer only later used Grok to improve the picture quality. That is not a reason to conclude it was AI-generated,” he said.

Despite the backlash, a check by BSide appears to confirm the presidency’s claim. When asked  to enhance the quality of a random photo, Grok AI returned results that bore the same watermark seen on the Tinubu-Kagame picture.

Also, the photo posted by the presidency appears to be far more realistic than photos generated by the AI tool. Nevertheless, posting a photo bearing an AI watermark has caused deep embarrassment for the Nigerian presidency.