Nigeria: Doctored Image Falsely Shows Nigerian President Bola Tinubu At 81st UN General Assembly

14 October 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Precious Ewuji

Doctored image falsely shows Nigerian president Bola Tinubu at 81st UN General Assembly

IN SHORT: A doctored image has been shared as evidence that Nigerian president Bola Tinubu attended the 81st United Nations General Assembly in the US in September 2026. But the presidency confirmed that his deputy Kashim Shettima represented Nigeria at the gathering.

Some Facebook users have posted an image they claim shows Nigeria's president Bola Tinubu at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in the US.

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Part of its caption reads: "This is president Bola Tinubu of the federal republic of Nigeria present at the 81th UN General assembly."

The image shows Tinubu standing at what appears to be a United Nations podium, with an inscription "81st General Assembly" visible behind him.

The UN General Assembly is the main policymaking organ of the organisation, with its member states holding sessions to discuss international issues and adopt resolutions. The 81st session opened on 8 September 2026 in the US.

Nigeria is a member of the UN and participates in the assembly. However, claims have circulated online about whether Tinubu was physically present at the 81st session.

The claim and image also appear here, here, here and here.

But does the image show Tinubu at the 81st session? We checked.

Doctored image

In a statement published on 21 September, the presidency confirmed Tinubu would not attend the 81st UN General Assembly. It said vice president Kashim Shettima would be in New York to represent the president and deliver Nigeria's national statement. Shettima's speech was uploaded to the United Nations YouTube channel.

Tinubu last attended the UN General Assembly in 2023 for the 78th session. Shettima represented him at the 79th session in 2024 and the 80th session in 2025, delivering Nigeria's national statement on both occasions.

The presidency also announced that Tinubu left Nigeria on 30 August 2026 for a three-week annual leave in Europe. On 21 September, it announced that he had extended his working vacation by a few days and was expected to return that weekend.

Africa Check examined the image and found visual inconsistencies, including an unusually smooth and shiny appearance of Tinubu's skin. These suggest the image may have been generated or manipulated with artificial intelligence tools.

The claim that Tinubu attended the 81st session of the UN General Assembly is false.

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Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. X @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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