CLAIM: Omoyele Sowore was recently photographed with President Tinubu during an alleged visit.
VERDICT: False
BACKGROUND:
Viral images now circulating on social media, especially Facebook, show human rights activist, Mr Omoyele Sowore, allegedly visiting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House, Abuja. The images suggested familiarity and a working relationship between Sowore and President Tinubu. The claim has sparked widespread debate online, with some netizens condemning the images as AI-generated, and some believing the images are real and that Sowore and President Tinubu are now working together.
The images, totalling three, were shared on April 5, 2026, by a Facebook account, The Citizen, on a public group ‘Ooni of Ife Colloquium’, with the caption “Is it true that activist Omoyele Swore visited President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently?”
The post has since garnered about 138 likes, 31 comments, and 13 reshares. While some of the comments attributed to the images being AI-generated, other comments, such as one made by Facebook user, ‘Francis Adeniran’, claim that the images are real, saying “It’s real and it will pained them, while we’re REJOICING.” However, is this claim true? We checked.
VERIFICATION:
An examination of the images revealed several discrepancies in the images’ lighting, the outfits of Sowore and President Tinubu, the shadows of the images’ subjects, and even the Presidential aides captured in the images. In the first image, featuring the welcoming handshake between President Tinubu and Sowore, the shadows are distorted. While they are seemingly outside in the sun at the State House, both Tinubu and Sowore do not have shadows, although the aide behind Tinubu and the car behind Sowore both have shadows, showing AI manipulation and hallucination. Also, in the first image, both the President and the activist were both featured wearing black shoes, an identification that changed in the second image, with Sowore depicted wearing brown shoes, and back to wearing black shoes in the third image. Another distortion is also that, while the President was featured wearing a blue outfit, his outfit in the first image is a lighter shade of blue than what was depicted in the other two images. Also, in the other two images, the front pocket of his outfit featured something like the State House emblem crested on it, while in the first image, his front pocket was bare. Additionally, two of the Presidential aides captured in image two have the same face, outfit, and stance, which can only be a result of AI manipulation.
For further verification, we conducted a keyword search of the names of President Tinubu and Mr Sowore, and there was no newspaper account or State House account of the visit, which could only translate that such a visit did not happen.
Also, we conducted a Google Reverse Image search of the first image and discovered that, while there is no news report or State account of such a visit, other social media pages have published the images, with different captions, such as ‘Asiwaju Omo Yoruba’ on the Facebook group ‘Lovers of Dr Orlando Owoh’, who published it on April 7, with the caption “Tomorrow, he will organize another Kanu Protest. See the hypocrite. I informed he’s working for Tinubu & receives huge sum from him to tarnish Obi & Otti. Here’s the idiot.”.
Also, Adumsunity on Instagram published it about a week ago with the caption “Omoyele Sowore cry today till tomorrow . This is you when you went to Asorock to see Tinubu and endorsed him for 2027. You even raised his hands up. No cry o, no cry at all, e pain you na you dey make post dey speak grammars. Na you be this and nothing you one tell us.”
However, further findings revealed that Sowore has debunked the alleged visit and dissociated himself from the images. He took to his social media and posted a screenshot of the images, crossed out with a large, red ‘x’ mark, with the caption:
“The unlikely reactionary coalition working tirelessly to hold Nigeria down has now resorted to deploying these fake Al images in a desperate bid to distort reality. But even in their deception, they reveal a deeper truth, an unspoken, genuine recognition of who truly embodies presidential leadership.
In their quietest thoughts, they already know who looks presidential between the worn-out Bola Ahmed Tinubu and me. These manufactured images are not just propaganda; they are subconscious confessions. They are speaking, perhaps unknowingly, to a future that has already arrived. Nigeria deserves a president who can stand straight in character, in courage, and in truth. #RevolutionNow”. All of which confirmed that the images are fake and misleading.
WHY VERIFICATION MATTERS
In Nigeria, AI-generated images of President Tinubu or other top officials are now a daily occurrence on WhatsApp, X, Facebook, and Instagram. They are weaponised for political manipulation in ways that directly affect ordinary Nigerians. Nigerians already deal with high levels of misinformation. When viral images like this spread unchecked, people begin to doubt real news, real government activities, and even real photos. This weakens democratic discourse and makes genuine accountability harder.
CONCLUSION
After verifying the details in the images posted online of a purported visit of activist Sowore to President Tinubu at the State House, it is discovered that the images are AI-generated and not of a real event. Therefore, the claim is false and misleading.
