Four hundred women living with disabilities in Abia State have received financial and material support valued at N20 million from the wife of the state governor, Mrs Priscilla Otti.
The intervention, which also included food items, is aimed at supporting vulnerable women and easing some of the financial pressures affecting their livelihoods and families.
The latest gesture comes amid Mrs Otti’s continued advocacy for greater inclusion of persons living with disabilities in social and economic programmes across Abia.
Her involvement in disability-focused interventions is not new. In 2024, the Abia State Government began a data-capturing exercise for people living with disabilities, with Mrs Otti stressing that accurate information was necessary for effective planning and targeted government support.
Speaking during the exercise, she said the process would enable officials to better understand the challenges facing persons with disabilities and develop appropriate interventions.
“The capturing is also a way to interact with persons of disabilities in order to know their plight and how the government can solve their problems,” she said.
Mrs Otti also distributed food items to more than 2,000 persons living with disabilities during the 2024 exercise. Reports from the event said beneficiaries received rice, groundnut oil and other provisions as part of measures to cushion economic hardship.
The latest financial support therefore represents another intervention targeted at a group that has featured prominently in the Abia First Lady’s humanitarian activities.
In 2025, Mrs Otti also participated in the Renewed Hope Initiative’s food outreach programme in Abia, where she received food supplies for distribution to vulnerable residents. The Abia State Government disclosed at the time that it had supplemented the programme with 3,000 bags of 10kg rice.
The governor’s wife has also maintained a broader focus on women’s economic empowerment. At the 2025 Abia Women Delegates Conference, she urged women to acquire new skills, innovate and pursue leadership opportunities, while the state government announced financial empowerment for women to expand their businesses and enterprises.
With the latest reported N20 million intervention benefiting 400 women, each beneficiary would receive an equivalent of N50,000 if the cash component is shared equally.
The support reinforces calls for sustained programmes that combine immediate humanitarian assistance with long-term economic opportunities for women living with disabilities.
