By Crystal Ugoeze
The Presidency has dismissed claims that a photograph showing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris was generated using artificial intelligence, describing the reports as false and misleading.
In a stop-press statement issued on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said the narrative circulating on social media and amplified by a report in Vanguard amounted to a deliberate misrepresentation of facts.
Ajayi clarified that the photograph in question was real and captured during an actual meeting between Presidents Tinubu and Kagame in Paris on Sunday. According to him, both leaders 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 taken with a mobile phone and initially appeared in poor quality, which may have fueled speculation. However, he noted that the photographer subsequently used Grok, an artificial intelligence tool, solely to enhance the picture’s quality, not to generate or fabricate the image.
“The use of an AI tool to improve image quality does not make the photograph AI-generated,” Ajayi said, stressing that such enhancement should not be misconstrued as evidence of manipulation or falsification.
He criticised the conclusions drawn in the media report, stating that the writer or editor ought to have sought clarification before publishing claims that questioned the authenticity of the image.
The Presidency urged media organisations and commentators to exercise due diligence and verify facts before drawing conclusions, particularly on sensitive issues involving the President and Nigeria’s international engagements.