“Council Chairman, VC Accused Of Illegality
Few weeks after the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), was embroiled in an employment crisis, another scandal involving the award of N500m contracts without following due process is now rocking the institution.
At the centre of the scandal this time around are the Pro-Chancellor, Comrade Fidelis Edeh, and the new Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ursula Ngozi Akanwa, who have been accused of bypassing established procedures in the award of contracts, including securing an illegal N500m loan through MOUAU Microfinance Bank.
An independent investigation spanning some weeks showed that it was in a bid to perfect the alleged illegal act that the Registrar, Dr Nkiruka Mbanasor, and the Bursar, Mr Ugochukwu Ironkwe, were suspended.
Statutorily, the Registrar is responsible for the signing of contracts on behalf of the university, but in this instance, a kinsman of the Pro-Chancellor, one Felix Nnaemeka Nwoye, who is just a Senior Assistant Registrar on Grade Level 11, was said to have signed the contracts.
It was further gathered that Mr Nwoye is being strategically positioned to sign contracts, as that schedule has been taken away from the Registrar under a strange arrangement that is alien to university administration.
The contracts involved are the renovation of the Vice-Chancellor’s office, construction of Gate 5, including repainting of walls and reconstruction of the IBB Students’ Hostel.
Stakeholders are incensed that both the Pro-Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor authorised the Managing Director of the institution’s Microfinance Bank, Mr Bashir Ogungbangbe, to secure N500m from a commercial bank, which was handed over to a contractor nominated by Edeh, without due process.
To make matters worse, expected students’ fees were used as collateral for the loan, meaning that poor students, already buffeted by the current unfavourable economic climate, will be charged more for hostel accommodation and tuition when school resumes later this month.
Interestingly, a bank that has a share capital of N200m, which, going by CBN regulations, is not supposed to approve a loan beyond N10m, has been forced to secure N500m, thus putting depositors’ funds at risk.
Apart from breaching the extant contract laws, the contractor has failed to put up signposts to announce who is responsible for the contracts.
A senior personnel at the Works Department told our reporter that the issues surrounding the N500m contracts are shrouded in mystery.
“To the best of my knowledge, none of these three projects passed through UPPC or UTB. I am also informed that just a few days ago, the Acting DPP raised the alarm about this to the Vice-Chancellor, complaining about the exclusion of the department from the deal,” the source, who craved anonymity, disclosed.
Efforts made to reach the Director of Protocol and Publicity, Mr Anyaso Anyaso, through his telephone number did not yield results.
