Date: October 4, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has given Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma 48 hours to retract comments referring to “Igbo minorities” and “Igbo majorities” and apologise to the Igbo people.
The demand followed remarks attributed to Uzodimma during an Independence Day address on October 1, in which the governor questioned how Igbo representation in President Bola Tinubu’s administration was being determined.
Uzodimma reportedly argued that Nigeria’s major ethnic groups contain minority communities but questioned why, in his view, the situation was being treated differently in relation to the Igbo.
“To form Nigeria, there are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Among the Hausa, we have minorities; among the Igbo, we also have minorities, and likewise among the Yoruba,” Uzodimma said, according to reports of his remarks.
“But in the consideration of government today, it is only the Igbos whose minorities are being represented. Why? The Hausa are always represented by a full Hausa, and the Yoruba by a full Yoruba. But in the Igbo case, minorities are claiming to be the majority.”
The governor did not publicly identify which communities or individuals he was referring to as “minorities” in the comments.
Reacting to the remarks, OYC National President Igboayaka O. Igboayaka rejected the distinction, saying the Igbo ethnic identity should not be divided into superior and inferior categories based on geographical location.
“There are no Igbo minorities or Igbo majorities existing in any part of the world. The Igbo race is one. There is no lesser, greater or superior Igbo anywhere,” Igboayaka said in a statement reported by SaharaReporters.
He accused the governor of introducing ethnic considerations into what he described as a political dispute and urged Uzodimma to withdraw the remarks.
Igboayaka also argued that an Igbo person whose ancestral community is outside the five South-East states should not be regarded as a lesser member of the ethnic group.
“An Igbo indigenous person in Benue, Bayelsa, Rivers, Kogi, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River is not a minority or lesser Igbo to an Igbo indigenous person in Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu,” he said.
The OYC leader broadened his criticism to other Igbo politicians whom he accused of putting individual political interests ahead of what he described as collective Igbo interests.
He urged Uzodimma to focus instead on infrastructure and economic development in the South-East, specifically mentioning proposed maritime developments around Ose-Akwa in Ihiala and Ose-Motto in Oguta.
Igboayaka also pointed to the proposed Gateway Deep Sea Port in Ogun State as an example of the type of large-scale infrastructure project he believed South-East political leaders should pursue. The OYC's claims concerning the proposed waterways and their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean were not independently established in the material reviewed.
The council leader said the governor should retract his reference to “Igbo minorities” and “Igbo majority” and issue an apology within 48 hours. He warned that failure to do so would, in his words, attract “the wrath of Ndi-ichie, Ndi-egede, Ndi-okpu and supreme Almighty God.”
The controversy comes amid wider political debate over representation of the South-East in Nigeria's federal government. The OYC's response reflects its position that Igbo identity extends beyond the administrative boundaries of the five South-Eastern states and includes communities with Igbo ancestry in other parts of the country.
The council's statement has added another point of political disagreement involving Uzodimma, who remains one of the prominent political figures in the South-East. The governor's original remarks were focused on representation in the federal government, while the OYC has framed the dispute primarily around Igbo identity and unity.
As of the latest reports, Uzodimma had not publicly announced a response to the council's 48-hour demand. The dispute therefore remains centered on the interpretation of the governor's comments and the OYC's demand for their withdrawal and an apology.