The management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), has defended its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Akanwa, saying she had no connection with the university’s controversial recruitment exercise.
According to the institution, the employment process and payroll documentation for successful applicants had been completed before Akanwa took office on March 1, 2026.
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday, the university’s Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Mr. Anyaso Anyaso, said the Federal Government approved the recruitment of 426 workers, a figure also endorsed by the Governing Council. However, he noted that although appointment letters were issued to 618 people and 553 names were entered into the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), only the 426 approved candidates were eventually uploaded.
He stressed that the Vice Chancellor has no authority to alter or remove names from the GIFMIS platform.
Anyaso called on members of the public to ignore what he described as false claims being spread about the matter and urged them to rely only on official information from the university.
He also rejected allegations that the institution forcefully collected identity cards from the affected workers, insisting the university neither issued dismissal letters nor used force during the retrieval process.
The response comes after representatives of 127 disengaged workers accused the university of treating them unfairly and replacing them with new employees following their disengagement.
