GOV. OTTI URGES INVESTORS TO ESTABLISH INDUSTRIES IN ABIA, SAYS STATE IS A GOLD MINE OF OPPORTUNITIES.

GOV. OTTI URGES INVESTORS TO ESTABLISH INDUSTRIES IN ABIA, SAYS STATE IS A GOLD MINE OF OPPORTUNITIES.

Abia State Governor, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, has called on investors to look more closely at the establishment of industries in Abia, saying the State offers enormous opportunities for profitable investments.

Governor Otti made the call on Sunday, November 8, 2026, while commissioning OXVERA Hotel, a privately built hospitality facility located in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.

The Governor, who congratulated the proprietor on the investment, said the State has made considerable progress in creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and is now shifting attention towards industrial development and job creation.

Gov. Otti urged Abia sons and daughters doing business outside the State to look homewards and consider investing more in their home State, stressing that establishing industries remains one of the most effective ways of creating employment opportunities for young people and generating additional revenue for the State.

“Sometimes we pay so much attention to foreign investment, and there’s nothing wrong with foreign investment. But if you have not created the enabling environment for local investors to invest, you may be deceiving yourself when you go out looking for foreign investment.

“I call on our brothers from Abia North, Abia Central and Abia South to seriously look home, because it’s only in investing and setting up industries that we’ll be able to create jobs for our young ones, and a lot of them are coming out from school in their numbers,” Gov. Otti stated.

Governor Otti described Abia as a gold mine of investment opportunities, and identified solid minerals, agriculture, trade and commerce, information technology, and oil and gas, particularly in the State’s upper areas, as sectors with significant economic potential.

The State Chief Executive disclosed that the State has continued to receive investment interests, including a proposed $200 million investment by Presco, which he said is interested in establishing a palm-related industry in Abia.

He explained that the State Government’s focus on improving infrastructure, security and the general business environment was aimed at making Abia attractive to both local and foreign investors.

Reflecting on his personal experience as a prospective investor decades ago, the Governor narrated how an earlier plan to establish a 150-room five-star hotel in the area, in partnership with an international hospitality brand, Marriott, failed shortly before the agreement was to be signed.

While appreciating the quality of the hospitality facility, Governor Otti disclosed that the State is expecting additional international hospitality brands, including Radisson Blu in Aba and Hilton in Umuahia, adding that competition among hospitality operators would encourage improved service delivery and ultimately benefit customers.

In their goodwill messages, the member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency, Hon. Obi Aguocha, and the Labour Party candidate for Abia North senatorial zone, Chief David Ogba Onuoha, lauded Governor Alex Otti for creating an enabling environment that has consistently attracted investors to the State since 2023.

They noted that with the achievements of Governor Otti in Abia State, the Labour Party candidates in the State would all be returned elected in the 2027 elections.

Answering questions from journalists, the Chief Executive Officer of OXVERA Hotel Limited, Chief Ozioma Nnanna, attributed the establishment of the hotel to the improving business environment in Abia State under the leadership of Governor Alex Otti, saying the administration’s achievements inspired him to return home and invest.

He explained that his longstanding passion for quality services and environments, coupled with the positive developments in the State, motivated his decision to establish the investment in Abia.

Chief Nnanna, who disclosed that OXVERA Hotel has 58 rooms of different categories, urged Abians living outside the State and other prospective investors to return home and take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the State, assuring them that investing in Abia would be worthwhile.

Ctz. UKOHA, NJOKU UKOHA
Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State.
November 8, 2026.