Oyo APC Candidate Explains Viral Video Showing Male Student Sitting on His Lap

A viral video involving Sharafadeen Alli, the APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, has sparked controversy after a male student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, was filmed sitting on the politician’s lap during a meeting at his campaign office.

The footage, which circulated widely online, shows the student seated on Alli’s lap while the politician is also seen touching the student’s thigh. The scene drew criticism and prompted questions about the circumstances surrounding the encounter.

Alli’s campaign organisation has now explained what happened, saying the student was among members of the institution’s Department of Banking and Finance who visited the candidate.

According to the campaign team, the students came to invite Alli to their programme and conduct an interview with him. It said the number of people present exceeded the available seating capacity, leaving some without chairs.

The campaign organisation said Alli then asked one of the students to sit on his lap, describing the action as “a spontaneous and fatherly gesture” with no inappropriate intention.

The team also accused some online platforms of deliberately presenting the encounter in a sexualised manner. It described the interpretations as misleading and politically motivated.

“It is deeply unfortunate that political desperation has descended to this level,” the campaign council said, insisting that those familiar with Alli’s relationship with young people would understand his gesture as fatherly.

The campaign organisation urged media outlets and social media users to exercise caution when reporting the incident. It described the backlash surrounding the video as “cheap political blackmail” and rejected what it called offensive insinuations about the APC candidate.