The campaign organisation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has explained the circumstances surrounding a viral video showing a student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, sitting on his lap.
The campaign team said the student was among a group from the institution’s Department of Banking and Finance who visited Alli at his campaign office in Mokola, Ibadan, to invite him to their programme and conduct an interview with him.
According to a statement issued by the campaign on Wednesday and published on its website, the students arrived when there were not enough seats to accommodate everyone present.
The campaign said Alli subsequently asked one of the students to sit on his lap so that the interview could continue.
The explanation came after the video was widely circulated on social media, generating reactions to the interaction between the APC candidate and the student.
In the footage, Alli is seen briefly caressing the student’s lap, a gesture that has prompted differing interpretations among social media users.
The campaign team rejected suggestions that the interaction had any sexual undertone, accusing some online platforms of deliberately portraying the incident in a misleading manner for political reasons.
According to the campaign, “the number of people present exceeded the available seating capacity, leaving insufficient chairs for everyone.”
It described Alli’s action as “a spontaneous and fatherly gesture”, insisting that there was no inappropriate intention behind the interaction.
“It is deeply unfortunate that political desperation has descended to this level, where an ordinary interaction between a fatherly political leader and students who came to seek support for their programme is deliberately twisted into something sordid,” the campaign team said.
The organisation urged the public to disregard what it described as misleading narratives arising from the video.
“Those who know Senator Sharafadeen Alli understand his disposition towards young people and his fatherly relationship with them. There is no basis whatsoever for the offensive insinuations being attached to this video,” it added.
The campaign also appealed to media organisations and social media users to exercise caution and responsibility in reporting the incident.
It warned against the use of sensationalism and innuendo to damage the reputation of individuals, particularly in the build-up to the 2027 governorship election in Oyo State.
The campaign described the reactions as an attempt at “cheap political blackmail” and said the election should instead centre on issues such as ideas, competence, development and the welfare of residents.
The viral video has continued to attract public attention, with the campaign’s statement representing its explanation of the circumstances surrounding the interaction.
