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 the politician’s lap.
The campaign team said the student, alongside other students from the institution’s Department of Banking and Finance, had visited Alli at his campaign office in Mokola, Ibadan, to invite him to one of their programmes and conduct an interview with him.
In a statement issued on Wednesday and published on its website, the campaign organisation said the students arrived at the office at a time when there were not enough seats to accommodate everyone.
It said Alli subsequently asked one of the students to sit on his lap so that the interview could continue.
The explanation followed the circulation of the video on social media, where the interaction attracted widespread reactions. In the footage, Alli was also seen briefly touching the student’s lap, a gesture which some social media users interpreted differently.
The campaign team rejected suggestions that the interaction was inappropriate, accusing some online platforms of deliberately portraying the incident in a sexualised manner.
According to the statement, “the number of people present exceeded the available seating capacity, leaving insufficient chairs for everyone”.
It described Alli’s decision to allow the student to sit on his lap as “a spontaneous and fatherly gesture”, insisting that there was no improper motive 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 interpretations of the video, saying such narratives were politically motivated.
“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 stated.
The campaign team also appealed to media organisations and social media users to exercise caution and responsibility when reporting the incident.
It warned against the use of digital platforms to damage individuals’ reputations through what it described as sensationalism and innuendo.
The organisation further urged the public to reject what it termed “cheap political blackmail”, arguing that the 2027 Oyo State governorship election should be centred on policies, competence, development and the welfare of residents.
