Beyond the Law: How Otti Is Turning Abia’s Startup Act Into Action

I attended the opening ceremony of the 2026 NASS Open Week and I carefully listened to the 10th House of Representatives Scorecard Review as presented by Prof. Jake Dan-Azumi, the Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives and a professor of Political Science and Development Studies.

Prof. clearly stated that about 80% of bills passed by the 10th House are establishment bills which hardly get funding after their assent into law by the President. He further advised the House against prioritizing establishment bills. Coming back home to Abia State, establishments bills tops chart when it comes to the current Abia State House of Assembly.

However, these establishment bills in Abia have not only gotten Gov. Otti’s assent, they have also received reasonable takeoff funding. Last month, the commissioner for science and technology in Abia revealed at a conference that Governor Otti has pushed in 2,000,000,000 naira takeoff fund for the Abia State Startup Act which was passed by the Abia State House of Assembly under the leadership of Speaker Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Ihuoma Emeruwa. This move proves that Gov. Alex Otti, is very intentional when it comes to policy implementation.

The contrast between the federal approach and what Abia is doing could not be more striking. At the national level, we see the Development Bank of Nigeria operating with over 1 trillion naira in disbursements, but this money moves at a wholesale level through financial intermediaries. It is distant, bureaucratic, and often feels disconnected from the everyday realities of young founders trying to get their ideas off the ground. Abia State’s 2 billion naira fund, by comparison, is a direct touch.

It is not filtered through layers of institutions or lost in administrative red tape. This money is meant to go straight to early stage companies in the state, addressing what has always been the hardest part of the journey for African founders, ‘access to finance’. The state has even gone further with initiatives like the NKATA program, a three hundred and six million naira grant that reaches businesses across all seventeen local government areas. This is governance that feels personal, targeted, and grounded in the actual needs of the people.

What makes this significant is not just the amount but the intention behind it. Abia is not waiting for the federal government to solve its problems or hoping that wholesale capital will trickle down to its streets. By domesticating the Startup Act and backing it with real money, the state has positioned itself as a pioneer, the first in the South East and South South to take this step. Yes, the challenges remain. Lagos still has the talent pool, the infrastructure, and the investor networks. But Abia is showing that it understands something fundamental: a law without funding is just words on paper.

Gov. Alex C. Otti and the state assembly under Speaker Emeruwa have chosen to put their money where their mouth is, and in doing so, they have given the people of Abia something far more valuable than policy documents. They have given them a reason to believe that this time, things might actually be different.

I hope with this gesture, Abia startups can move from concept to scalable enterprise, rather than merely becoming recipients of government grants. That will actually be the success of this policy. The ball is now in the court of the Abia State ministry of science and technology.

©️ Emenike Vincent Onyembi (EVO)