The House of Representatives has intervened in the ongoing drama between the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and a 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate, Mmesoma Ejikeme, who had been accused of inflation her scores by the examination body.
Members of the lower chamber expressed concerns that JAMB acted in an unprofessional manner in a matter involving a minor by withdrawing the candidate’s result and banning her for 3 years.
They said the girl may have been manipulated by an adult.
The House subsequently set up an adhoc committee to investigate the matter and asked JAMB to stay action until the green chamber concludes its investigation.
What you should know
- JAMB had on Sunday, July 2, accused Ejikeme Mmesoma of manually inflating her score from 249 to 362 and parading herself as the top scorer for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
- The examination body said she manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public to fraudulently obtain scholarship and other recognitions, adding that it will withdraw her certificate and prosecute her.
- However, Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, in a viral video yesterday dismissed allegations that she manipulated her 2023 UTME result, saying that she printed her result from the JAMB portal.
- The student, who insisted that her aggregate score is 362, said the allegation has left her “‘traumatized,” adding that she is not capable of forging her own result.
- She said that since nursery school, she has been taking first, noting that she is not an illiterate girl that will go and forge her result. She pointed out that she even scored over 300 in her common entrance exam.
- The examination body yesterday insisted that the UTME result being paraded by Mmesoma Ejikeme is fake, stating that it stopped using the print-out that she displayed as her authentic result in 2021.
- The JAMB Spokesman, Benjamin, who noted that JAMB has been issuing actual UTME result slips and not notification of results since 2022, said that it has barred Mmesoma from sitting for its examination for the next 3 years.
The 19 year old lady is not a minor. If HOR Politicians from her tribe get carried away by the generally percieved tribal sentiments in her defence because of her tribe and in the process misrepresented this full grown 19-year old lady as a minor then this Nairametrics report repeating such misinformation itself is unprofessional as it intends to mislead its readers.
Who is this tribal demagogue?
Only in Nigeria can a governmental agency accuse, try, judge and sentence someone without as much as fair hearing, and tribal bigots and demagogues will cheer along.
Hear them. Those who destroyed our country are now blabbing that JAMB is unprofessional for defending itself against a public ridicle. I was one of the initial supporters of this girl. But JAMB put forward a very strong argument that made me to have a rethink. out of 1.6m people, so only her will be witch hunted because her father is a billionaire or what? She might have been coming first in all her past examinations. That does not imly she must score the highest in JAMB. This is a very weak argument. Preparing for an external examination is different from the preparation for an internal examination. Education should not be bastardized. We should have dignity in some areas. We cannot destry every fabric of the society. We love the work being done by Prof Oloyede and his Team. Sir, please continue to be ahead of cheaters and ensure top notch quality control
You have said it all. Thanks a million.
@Ibrahim, NOTHING you have written justifies JAMB constituting itself into a self-anointed accuser, judge, jury and executioner, without the benefit of fair hearing. Due process is one of the most crucial elements that strengthens institutional faith and the fabric of advanced societies.
Btw, Prof Oloyede himself was publicly accused of fraud and corruption at both the University of Ilorin and at JAMB (the latter by ICPC and EFCC). I’m sure that he’s glad that Nigerians purportedly “destroyed every fabric of the society” by affording him the right and privilege of FAIR HEARING rather simply deferring to the anti-corruption agencies to constitute themselves into accusers, judge, jury and executioner.