MOUAU DISTANCES NEW VC FROM FLAWED RECRUITMENT

The management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, has said the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Akanwa, had no role in the university’s last recruitment exercise.

According to the Head of Public Relations and Protocol of the university, Mr Anyaso Anyaso, the Vice-Chancellor had repeatedly explained at meetings with members of the university community that the recruitment process, including the capture of successful applicants on the payroll, had been concluded before she assumed office on March 1, 2026.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday, Anyaso said, “The crux of the matter is that the Federal Government gave a waiver for the recruitment of 426 staff, a figure which the Governing Council also approved and directed the then Vice-Chancellor/Management to strictly adhere to in conducting the employment exercise.

“Ironically, appointment letters were issued to 618 persons, while 553 were captured on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), which then uploaded only the 426 approved by the Federal Government and the Governing Council.

“Suffice it to state here that the Vice-Chancellor has no access to the GIFMIS platform to either remove or change any name uploaded.”

He urged members of the public and other stakeholders to “disregard insinuations being peddled by mischief-makers, rely only on official university channels for accurate information and refrain from circulating unverified reports.”

Responding to questions from journalists, the university spokesman denied allegations that force was used to retrieve the identity cards of the disengaged workers.

“MOUAU did not issue sack letters and did not use force to obtain their ID cards,” he said.

It will be recalled that on Monday, representatives of the 127 disengaged members of staff alleged that, apart from losing their jobs, they were humiliated during the university management’s effort to retrieve their identity cards and claimed they had been replaced by other employees.