My picture as election observer in Ekiti election AI generated — Edo APC Chair

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, Jarret Tenebe, has dismissed a viral image showing him wearing an INEC-accredited election observer jacket during the Ekiti election, insisting the picture was generated using artificial intelligence.

Tenebe made the clarification during an interview on AIT on Tuesday, where he explained that his visit to Ekiti State had been misrepresented online.

According to him, he was in Ekiti as part of a forum of APC state chairmen across the country, who agreed to support colleagues during off-cycle elections, and not in any official capacity as an observer.

“We have a forum of APC State Chairmen all over the country, and we all agreed that in any stand-alone election, we have to give support to our fellow chairmen in that election. That was how I got to Ekiti, not to monitor elections or whatever.

“So what you saw on the internet is a creation of AI. And you know that these opposition people, they know how to do that a lot. So I think it was AI. It was not me,” he said.

He added that he was never accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as an observer, stressing that he had never held such accreditation.

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“I was never accredited, and I have never been accredited. It’s clear AI, and they are fond of doing it, and they will continue to do it. And AI is going to cause problems for everybody in this country,” he stated.

Responding to claims about the origin of the image, Tenebe said he first saw it on the social media handle of former lawmaker Dino Melaye, alleging that it was being used to create political drama following electoral defeat narratives.

“Yeah, the first place I saw it was on Dino Meleye’s handle. And you know Dino Meleye is fond of things like that. He knows how to act drama a lot,” he said.

The Ekiti State governorship election was held on June 20, 2026, as part of Nigeria’s off-cycle governorship polls conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

At the end of collation, INEC declared the incumbent governor, Biodun Oyebanji of the APC, the winner of the election.