By Steve Oko
The management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), has firmly defended Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Akanwa, against allegations surrounding the controversial recruitment exercise, while blaming the mess on the immediate past management, which superintended over the exercise, for not restricting itself to the approved quota.
It said Prof. Akanwa neither supervised nor influenced the recruitment process, insisting that the employment exercise had been concluded before she took over as Vice-Chancellor on March 1, 2026.
The management further explained that the payroll capture of the successful candidates was not done by the university but by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
The clarification comes amid growing concerns from some of the affected personnel, who said they were recruited in February 2026 and had been working without pay since then, only to have their identity cards retrieved during a meeting with the university management last week.
