The campaign organisation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has responded to controversy surrounding a viral video showing him interacting with a male student during an interview, Peak Newspaper reports.
The footage, which has attracted mixed reactions online, shows Alli seated with the student on his lap while appearing to touch him. Some viewers interpreted the scene as inappropriate, prompting questions about the nature of the interaction.
However, Alli’s campaign rejected the interpretation, explaining that the student and other young people in the video were students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, who had visited the politician to seek support for a programme and conduct an interview.
According to the campaign, the venue was crowded and there were not enough chairs for everyone present. It said Alli invited one of the students to sit on his lap so the interview could continue, describing the action as an unplanned and fatherly gesture.
The campaign accused some online platforms and political opponents of taking the footage out of context in an attempt to damage Alli’s reputation and create a political scandal.
It urged journalists and social media users to exercise caution when sharing the video, stressing that political disagreements should not encourage misleading narratives or irresponsible reporting.
