The father of Mmesoma Ejikeme, the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate who falsified her JAMB result, Mr Romanus Ejikeme, has tendered an unreserved apology to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and Nigerians at large, saying his daughter lied to him initially.
Ejikeme had earlier accused JAMB of pulling his daughter down.
He admitted that he didn’t know where his daughter registered for the examination but that he gave her the money for the registration.
This is just as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it has been “vindicated” over its result manipulation allegations levelled against a candidate in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Mmesoma Ejikeme
The Board stated that this had further reinforced its position that its system was not and cannot be compromised.
Having initially come under fire from some quarters for declaring Mmesoma a fraud, JAMB in a statement on Saturday, said it “will not despair in spite of the painful realisation that some Nigerians would do anything to cast aspersions on the good name of the Board.”
Mmesoma’s Father Apologizes To JAMB, Nigerians
“The report of the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Anambra State Government, an independent and unbiased body, as demanded by some Nigerians to look into the Mmesoma saga, has vindicated the Board,” the statement said.
“This has further reinforced the position of the Board that its system was not and cannot be compromised. It is to be noted that the Board has built a reputation in terms of the conduct of credible examinations over the years and cannot afford to fail the nation at this critical juncture of its development.
“Therefore, we will not despair in spite of the painful realisation that some Nigerians would do anything to cast aspersions on the good name of the Board. However, in spite of all the posturing of its detractors, the Board remains resolute and uncompromising in its commitment to give Nigeria the best as far as credible and fair assessment is concerned.
“In fact, the Board is, more than ever, determined to continue to forge ahead unmindful of the shenanigan of those who desire its fall.”The committee set up by the Anambra State governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the trending result saga indicted the girl of manipulating her examination result.
JAMB warned candidates to stay away from fraudulent Apps that promise to enhance their scores as the end result would always be anguish and misery.
19-year-old Ejikeme Joy Mmessoma had at last confessed that she manipulated her result.
The Anambra State government stated that Mmessoma admitted to the investigation panel set up on the controversy that trailed her UTME result that she inflated her result from her actual score of 249 to 362 “unaided”.
The state government had set up an eight-man panel made up of five professors headed by Prof. A. U Nonyelu of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka to find out Mmesoma’s actual score in the UTME following her claim that she topped in the exam with 362.
Her claim was faulted on hearing that the state government was according another student who hails from the state, Miss Nkechinyere Umeh who scored 360 recognition as the authentic highest scorer in the 2023 UTME.
On arrival at the office of the state commissioner for education, Prof Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, accompanied by the principal of her Anglican Girls Secondary school, Uruagu, Nnewi and the secretary of education, Nnewi Anglican Diocese wherein she protested that the state government was trying to deny her, the hard academic success, which had already earned her N3million scholarship award from the proprietor of the Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing company, IVM, Nnewi, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the education commissioner had put a telephone call across to the head of public relations of JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin who promptly clarified that the highest score in the 2023 UTME was 360.
According to the Anambra state government the JAMB representative at the investigation panel had revealed that Mmessoma made several requests to the JAMB portal asking for her result at different hours, and each of these times (four in number) she received in her phone, same results from JAMB indicating her UTME results to wit: Eng: 64, Phy:54, Bio:74, Che: 57 with a total aggregate score of 249.
Following her admission of guilt, the investigation committee recommended that she should tender a written apology to the JAMB, the Anambra State government and her school, Anglican Girls Secondary school, Uruagu, Nnewi for dragging their names to the mud.
The panel also recommended that Mmessoma should undergo psychological counselling and therapy.
Already, the IVM boss has cancelled the N3 million scholarship awarded to Mmessoma.
JAMB has also cancelled her 249 score and banned her from participating in its exams in the next three years.
However, an indigene of Enugu State has awarded Mmesoma scholarship to study in any university of her choice either in London or Canada.
Innoson Withdraws Mmesoma’s N3m Scholarship
The N3m scholarship awarded to Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme by Innoson Vehicles has been withdrawn after the Anambra committee of inquiry revealed that she faked her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result.
LEADERSHIP reports Mmesoma was awarded a scholarship worth N3m by Innoson vehicles to pursue her tertiary education with ease in the next five years.
Following the report of the Committee set up by Anambra State Government which indicted Mmesoma and revealed her UTME scores were inflated, Innoson made a decision.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Cornel Osigwe, head of corporate communications, Innoson, said the company made the “difficult decision” to withdraw the scholarship “in response to the confirmed findings”.
JAMB in a statement said: “those who are still doubting the capacity of Ms. Mmesoma to commit this egregious crime and those who are pushing the narrative that the girl is just 16 years old even against all available data that indicate her age as an adult of 19 years, Ms. Mmesoma has owned up to committing the heinous infraction, which was carefully crafted to destroy the very foundation of one of the nation’s agencies charged with the critical role of apportioning the limited educational resource of the nation based on fairness equity and integrity.”
