The wife of Abia State Governor, Priscilla Otti, has provided N20 million and food items to 400 women living with disabilities in the state.
Otti presented the assistance on Friday in Umuahia during an outreach organised for women with disabilities. The initiative was held as part of the 2026 Women with Disabilities August Meeting.
Speaking at the event, Otti, founder of the Safe Tent Care Initiative, said the intervention was aimed at providing practical support to people affected by economic hardship.
“This has been a long time coming, and this is just the start. I want to promise you that this will be a very frequent intervention from my office,” she said.
She said the programme was also intended to ensure that women with disabilities received the same attention as other women during the recent August Meeting. Otti identified unemployment, financial insecurity, medical expenses, limited mobility, poor accessibility, stigma and social exclusion as some of the challenges confronting people with disabilities.
Otti said her office had maintained engagement with the disability community since 2023. She added that more than 600 people with disabilities benefited from a food and cash outreach in 2024, while about 100 entrepreneurs received business support through a partnership in 2025.
“This is not charity and not an end in itself; it is solidarity in action,” she said, stressing that the focus was on moving beneficiaries from relief to economic resilience and greater independence.
She also disclosed that her office had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Directorate of Employment to train 200 women in vocational skills for three months and provide them with starter packs. She said women living with disabilities would be included among the beneficiaries.
Otti further said Abia would soon establish a community food bank following the launch of the National Community Food Bank for the South-East in Anambra State by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. She said persons with disabilities would be among those targeted by the initiative.
The Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Blessing Ngozi Felix, represented by Imo Obinna Sabbatin, said the government had helped persons with disabilities feel a greater sense of belonging. Commissioner for Women Affairs Maureen Aghukwa similarly said disability should not be a basis for exclusion or discrimination.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Persons Living With Disabilities, David Anyaele, said the administration was prioritising empowerment over palliatives. He described the outreach as part of the 2026 Women with Disabilities August Meeting, organised after Otti concluded engagements with women across the state’s local government areas.
