By John Ikani
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has vehemently dismissed the purported Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result presented by Mmesoma Ejikeme as “an outright fabrication”.
According to JAMB, its system remains untampered with and uncompromised, adding that Ejikeme falsified a result slip belonging to “Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle,” a candidate who scored 138 in the 2021 UTME.
Backstory
JAMB issued a statement on Sunday, claiming that Ejikeme manually “inflated her UTME score from 249 to 362, a move that enabled her to secure a N3 million scholarship from Innoson Motors, with an award ceremony planned by the Anambra state government.”
Ejikeme, who reportedly took the exam in Anambra State, denies forging her result. In a video released on Monday, she stated, “I am traumatised that they accused me of forging my results because I’m not capable of forging my result.”
JAMB maintains stance
However, JAMB, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Benjamin Fabian, on Tuesday morning, dismissed the video as a staged act.
The board argued that Ejikeme inadvertently revealed the rightful owner of the result she was presenting when she pointed out that the QR code on the result slip displayed the actual owner’s details before distorting the truth.
“To verify” its position on this matter, the Board urged the public to “scan the QR code on the result slip to ascertain its true owner before any tampering occurred.”
The board emphasized that the QR code encapsulates each candidate’s UTME result, making the information on the result sheet nothing more than an interpretation of the QR code’s contents.
JAMB further noted that it ceased issuing Notification of Result slips, which Mmesoma paraded, after the 2021 UTME due to rampant falsification.
“Instead, the board has been providing actual UTME RESULT Slips since 2022, complete with the candidate’s photograph.”
According to the Board, Ejikeme is the only candidate among those who took the 2023 UTME who parades the outdated ‘Notification of Result.’
3-year-Ban
While noting that the case has been handed over to relevant security agencies for a thorough investigation to uncover the masterminds behind the falsification, JAMB added that it has nullified Ejikeme’s 2023 UTME result.
The Board also announced that it has barred her from taking any future examinations conducted by the board for the next three years, in line with its established procedures.
Anambra Government reacts
Meanwhile, the Anambra Government has waded into the controversy, noting that it has set up a panel of inquiry to look into the matter.
Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, the Anambra Commissioner for Education, announced the setting up of the panel in a statement in Awka on Monday.
“A panel of inquiry has been set up to work with security agents to investigate the allegation of falsification of result levelled against Mmesoma Ejikeme, who had earlier been showcased in the social media as having scored the highest,” Mrs Chuma-Udeh, a professor, said.
The commissioner described the controversy on the girl’s actual result as embarrassing, especially coming at a time Governor Chukwuma Soludo was repositioning the education sector in Anambra.
