By Egufe Yafugborhi

WARRI—Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged, Centrep,  has described as “hate speech,” the opinion by the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, when he allegedly said that Igbo marginalization will end if the South-East joins APC.

National Chairman APC, Chief Odigie Oyegun

Chief Oyegun had allegedly made the comment during a reconciliation meeting, in Abuja, to pacify aggrieved aspirants in the just concluded Anambra State governorship primaries of the party.

Centrep, in a statement by its Executive Director,  Oghenejabor Ikimi, said: “The statement by the APC National Chairman  was laced with hate, malice and animosity.

“From the remark by Oyegun, it is clear that the South East and other geo-political regions that did not support the ruling party during the 2015 general election are now deliberately being marginalized for their failure to vote APC.”

The rights group noted that such utterances, rather than douse tension in the South-East has further ridiculed the people of the geo-political region and portrayed them, under the current dispensation, as second class citizens.

“We call on the APC National Chairman to tender unreserved apology to the people of the region and for the Federal Government to immediately open a channel of peaceful discussion with the angry youths in the region.

“We totally agree with the United State of America to the effect that Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB,  is not a terrorist group but a body of aggrieved youths trying to draw the attention of the Federal Government and the world to their plight and sorry state of the South East.”