Vice-Chancellor Not Involved In Recruitment Process, MOUAU Clarifies
The management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) has issued a clarification stating that its newly appointed Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Ngozi Akanwa, played no role in the institution’s recent staff recruitment exercise.
In a statement signed by the Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Anyaso Anyaso, the university explained that the recruitment process, including the capture of successful applicants for payroll, had already been concluded before March 1, 2026, when Prof. Akanwa assumed office as the university’s 7th Vice-Chancellor.
According to the statement, the Federal Government approved a waiver for the recruitment of 426 staff, a figure also endorsed by the University’s Governing Council. However, appointment letters were reportedly issued to 618 persons, while 553 names were captured on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS). The statement added that the system ultimately uploaded only the 426 positions approved by the Federal Government and the Governing Council.
The university further stressed that the Vice-Chancellor has no access to the GIFMIS platform and therefore cannot add, remove, or alter any names on the payroll.
MOUAU urged members of the public and stakeholders to disregard what it described as misleading insinuations regarding the Vice-Chancellor’s involvement in the recruitment, advising the public to rely only on official university communication channels for verified information.
The statement reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to transparency and called on the public to refrain from circulating unverified reports.
