Outgoing 6th Vice Chancellor ( VC ) of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia state, Professor Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe has reported how he has administered the university from March 2021 for a five year tenure , stating that he first restored peace after resolving over 100 cases filed in various courts against the university.
The VC in an interview stated that he achieved this without stepping on toes and that there was no case of embezzlement under his watch, declaring ” I gave my life to the service of this University and proud of the progress we have made”.
He said that though his administration executed several projects with the limited resources available , he expressed surprise that some of his detractors /opponents decided to smear his administration’s reputation on social media.
He said that some online news platforms had published some falsehoods alleging that his administration splashed to purchase three vehicles for 252 million naira, failed to remit 578 million naira IGR generated 2021- 2022, paid for fake and uncompleted projects, violated 32 acts of Public Procurement Act, including paying his predecessor a severance allowance in excess of 44 million naira.
While he reacted that he came into office in March 2021 during the Covid 19 pandemic era , when there was no internal revenue generation, he recalled that in 2022 , public universities had declared nationwide strike that lasted for over eight months, hence he wondered how the N578 million IGR could have been generated.
The VC said that though there was plan to procure vehicles as proposed in 2024 for 2025 appropriations, the funds were not released, arguing that procurement processes are lengthy and extend to Ministry of Agriculture Committee from the university counterpart before approval to effect.
On the payment of severance allowance, he said he did not pay such, because he did not inherit it, stressing that issue of severance allowance payment is handled by the university Governing Council and not the Vice Chancellor.
