The 19-year-old candidate of the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Ejikeme Mmesoma, who manipulated her result, has tendered a profound apology to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and it’s Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede.
Appearing before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Allegations of Manipulation of her UTME result on Wednesday, Mmesoma publicly admitted her involvement and tendered a written apology before the committee.
The 19-year-old said ignorance played a significant role in her action and she only got to know the full implication of her actions after she had manipulated her result.
She added that it is not in her character to indulge in such misbehaviour and that this was her first time, even as she pleaded with JAMB to tamper justice with mercy.
Earlier, JAMB Registrar, Oloyede, noted that it is practically impossible to fake JAMB’s results because they are stored offline and not in “cloud.”
The JAMB boss assured the committee that the board’s Central Admission Processing System is “full proof” and no human interference has been recorded since 2017 when it was installed, adding that the board has made tremendous progress in the area of its CAPS.
He also noted that JAMB conducts a ranking or non-referencing examination and not a criterion examination.
He called on the House of Representatives to employ the services of an education expert to always advise it on educational matters as some of the decisions of the House have not reflected their expertise on educational matters.
According to him, there are no loopholes or vulnerabilities identified in the JAMB process.
“To prevent such in the future, there is need for members of the public to be careful in making unfounded statements and for them to have confidence in public institutions”
“The public should commend JAMB for its process and procedure,” he said.
The committee, Chaired by Rt. Hon. Sada Soli, APC Katsina State, had agreed not to subject Mmesoma to public testimony but reversed it’s decision upon, discovering that she was 19.
While commending the young lady, her father and lawyers for showing up at the hearing, the committee however, advised her to stay off bad influence and learn from her mistakes.
