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Grok Watermark triggered doubts over Tinubu–Kagame photo

Nurudeen Akewushola
Nurudeen Akewushola
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Photograph of President Tinubu and Kagame enhanced with Grok

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A Photograph shared from President Bola Tinubu’s reported meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris has triggered widespread debate on social media after users observed a Grok watermark on the image.

This prompts questions over whether artificial intelligence was used to generate or manipulate the photograph.

Tinubu, on Sunday, January 4, disclosed via his verified X account, @officialABAT, that he hosted President Kagame to a private lunch in Paris, the French capital.

According to Tinubu, the meeting provided an opportunity for both leaders to deliberate on global developments and Africa’s position in a rapidly changing international environment.

“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.

The meeting occurred during the Nigerian president’s trip to Europe. Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, had earlier announced in a statement that Tinubu departed Lagos on Sunday, December 28, 2025, for Europe, continuing his end-of-year break and ahead of an official engagement in the United Arab Emirates.

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According to the statement, Tinubu was invited by the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to participate in the 2026 edition of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW 2026) summit.

The weeklong event is an annual gathering that brings together global leaders from government, business, and civil society to shape discussions on sustainable development.

With the theme “The Nexus of Next: All Systems Go,” ADSW 2026 is expected to connect ambition with action across innovation, finance, and people, highlighting pathways for global progress. The Presidency stated that Tinubu would return to Nigeria after the summit.

Grok watermark raises questions

However, controversy emerged after the photograph posted on Tinubu’s verified X account carried the watermark of Grok, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, an AI company owned by billionaire Elon Musk. Grok is known for real-time search, AI-powered text generation, image creation, and image editing capabilities.

The same image was also shared by Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to the President on New Media, further fueling reactions and scrutiny across social media platforms.

Several X and other social media users criticised the development, questioning why a photograph documenting a high-level diplomatic meeting would carry an AI watermark. Some users alleged that the image might have been artificially generated, while others accused the Presidency of attempting to mislead the public.

One X user, @WarepamorSammy, posted a strongly worded criticism accusing the president of using an AI-generated image to deceive Nigerians. Another user, @He_isJustin, wrote, “You should be ashamed to be honest. AI generated image posted by a ‘President’.”

Similarly, an X user identified as Ademola questioned the credibility of the image, suggesting that the use of an AI-generated photo reflected deeper issues within the administration.

Another critic, who tweets as #sonickay, also pointed out the Grok watermark and demanded clarity on the president’s whereabouts and activities.

Public scepticism and record of disinformation

The ICIR reports that the intensity of public reaction is influenced by previous instances in which the Nigerian Presidency has issued misleading or inaccurate information.

For instance, on April 29, 2025, Dada Olusegun shared two contrasting images on X purporting to compare water transportation in Anambra State under former Governor Peter Obi and Lagos State under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The image depicting Obi showed him in a wooden canoe in a flooded area, while the Lagos image showed a modern watercraft.

Olusegun captioned the post: “Water transportation in Anambra under Obi vs. water transportation in Lagos under Babajide Sanwo-Olu.”

However, a reverse image search conducted by The FactCheckHub revealed that the image of Obi was taken in October 2022, eight years after he left office, during a visit to flood victims while he was a presidential candidate.

In another case, during the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests, the Presidency shared a video of Tinubu purportedly addressing Nigerians and urging patience amid economic hardship. Investigations later revealed that the video was extracted from an older broadcast made in July 2023.

Additionally, on January 6, 2025, presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, inaccurately claimed that Julius Debrah was the Chief of Staff to former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. Fact-checks showed that Debrah was, in fact, the Chief of Staff to the current Ghanaian President, John Mahama, while Akufo-Addo’s Chief of Staff was Akosua Frema Osei-Opare.

Presidency clarifies Grok image

Amid the controversy, Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, issued a statement with the title “Stop Press”, on Monday, January 5. He dismissed claims that the image of Tinubu and Kagame was AI-generated.

READ ALSO : How AI made deepfakes harder to detect in 2025

According to Ajayi, the photograph was taken with a mobile phone and was initially of poor quality. He explained that the photographer later used Grok to enhance the image quality, not to fabricate the scene or generate a fake photograph.

Ajayi added that both presidents indeed met in Paris and later had dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron the same day. He criticised media reports and social media reactions that concluded the image was fake without proper verification.

Can Grok be used to refine images?

Findings by The ICIR showed that Grok could be used for image refinement and modification. The tool allows users to improve brightness, exposure, and overall clarity, as well as modify backgrounds and posture using simple text prompts.

File photo of interim Venezuela President
The ICIR conducted a test run using a file photograph of Venezuela’s interim president and successfully enhanced the image, changed the background, and altered posture using Grok’s tools. These features are powered by Aurora, xAI’s photorealistic image model introduced in late 2024.

The enhanced picture of Venezuela Interim president with her background and posture changed with Grok

      The enhanced picture of Venezuela Interim president with her background and posture changed with Grok

    The image-editing function, integrated into the X platform and Grok’s standalone applications, enables AI-assisted visual adjustments with fewer content restrictions compared to similar tools, such as Google’s Gemini.

     

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    Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.

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