Why Oyo APC Guber Candidate Let Student Sit On His Lap — Campaign Team Explains Viral Video

The campaign organisation of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has clarified why a student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, was seen sitting on his lap in a viral video.

Speaking in a statement on Wednesday, the campaign explained that some students from the institution’s Department of Banking and Finance had visited Alli at his campaign office in Mokola, Ibadan, to invite him to their programme and interview him.

However, the campaign team said there was not enough seating for the students, and Alli subsequently invited one of them to sit on his lap.

Naija News reports that the campaign team clarified this in a statement issued on Wednesday and uploaded to its website.

The explanation followed the circulation of a video online, which has attracted reactions over the interaction between Alli and the student. In the footage, Alli was also seen briefly caressing the student’s lap, a gesture that some social media users interpreted in different ways.

The campaign team, however, condemned attempts by some online platforms to sexualise the interaction, describing such interpretations as misleading and politically motivated.

According to the campaign team, “the number of people present exceeded the available seating capacity, leaving insufficient chairs for everyone.

It said Alli’s decision was “a spontaneous and fatherly gesture” and maintained that there was no inappropriate intention behind the action.

“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.

It urged the public to disregard what it described as misleading narratives surrounding the footage.

“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.