President Bola Tinubu on Sunday held a private lunch with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris, France.
Tinubu disclosed the meeting on his verified X account, @officialABAT, saying the two leaders discussed global issues and Africa’s role in a changing world.
“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 Nigerian leader left Lagos on December 28, 2025, for Europe as part of his end‑of‑year break.
His spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the trip, noting that Tinubu would later travel to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW 2026) summit.
Abu Dhabi Summit Invitation
Tinubu was invited by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to attend ADSW 2026, scheduled for early January.
The weeklong summit brings together leaders from government, business, and civil society to chart the next era of sustainable development.
The event’s theme, “The Nexus of Next: All Systems Go,” will focus on innovation, finance, and people, showcasing how ambition can be translated into action for global progress. Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria after the summit.
Criticism Over Tinubu’s Absence
Despite the high‑profile engagements, Tinubu has faced criticism at home for being away during the New Year celebrations and for not addressing Nigerians with a clear agenda for 2026.
Former American mayor Mike Arnold added fuel to the controversy, claiming on Facebook that Tinubu’s photo with Kagame was fake.
“This is Pres. Tinubu’s most recent post on X. The picture is AI generated. Why the fabrication? What is he hiding? Is he really dead? Strung out on drugs? In hiding? Or just a fraud? You’d think after flaunting a ₦400M wristwatch the other day, he could afford more competent social media help,” Arnold alleged.
The post has sparked suspicions online, with supporters dismissing the claims and critics questioning the president’s actual whereabout.
The swirling conspiracy theory formed presidential handlers to intervene to douce the rising tension. The Presidency dismissed allegations the photographs between the two presidents was generated using artificial intelligence.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, describing the online claims as a misrepresentation of facts.
Ajayi insisted that the photograph was authentic, adding that both leaders met in Paris on Sunday.
“President Kagame and President Tinubu met in Paris and had lunch together on Sunday. The two leaders later had dinner with President Emmanuel Macron the same evening,” he said.
He explained that the confusion arose from post-production enhancement of the image, not from AI generation.
“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. It was taken with a phone and understandably had poor quality. The photographer only later used Grok to improve the picture quality. That is not a reason to conclude it was AI-generated.”
Ajayi further criticised the reports that fuelled the speculation, saying due diligence was lacking.
“The writer or editor should have asked questions before arriving at this wrong conclusion,” he added.
The Presidency maintained that the meeting and the photograph were genuine, urging the public to disregard any information to the contrary.
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