Stakeholders have called for an independent tech investigation into the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) alleged result falsification by Ejikeme Mmesoma from Anambra State, said to have emerged top scorer in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Mmesoma was alleged by JAMB to have inflated her score from 249 to 362 to emerge as the overall best. The examination body has stated its readiness to prosecute the candidate for misleading the public.
“With this ignoble act, Mmesoma would be prosecuted and her original result withdrawn. This is not all, as the board would, in due course, investigate all candidates laying claims to higher scores than they actually obtained,” JAMB statement read in part.
However, Mmesoma, in a video denied the allegation of falsification of her 2023 UTME result. She displayed what she claimed was printed from the JAMB portal.
She explained that when the code on the sheet was scratched, it was discovered it has another person’s name which she could not have been able to insert on her own.
She also pointed out that the case was taken to the Department of State Services (DSS) who, after questioning her, promised to investigate the matter before they could arrive at any conclusion.
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But before the DSS could complete their exercise, JAMB had already published that she forged her result.
This has raised questions as to why JAMB rushed to publish that the candidate who is still a suspect committed the crime without waiting for the DSS to come out with their findings.
Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister for education, reacting to this, called for an independent tech investigation to unearth all facts about the saga.
“This saga between Mmesoma Ejike and JAMB requires an independent tech investigation to unearth all facts.
Listening to her in this video, it is reasonable to request a forensic –investigation to help reveal what really happened. I have reached the JAMB registrar,” she tweeted on her Twitter handle.
Ezekwesili reiterated that an independent investigation would turn what she termed a curious episode into a learning opportunity for JAMB and everyone, especially students.
“I frankly see no downsides in asking a team of independent technology folks to investigate and publicly share their findings. Let us do it,” she requested.
In the same vein, Cornel Osigwe, head of corporate communications at Innoson Group, called for an investigation into the allegations of certificate forgery against Mmesoma who was alleged to have paraded herself as the top scorer of the 2023 UTME.
In his reaction to the alleged forgery, he said that Ejikeme does not have the brain to forge results.
Osigwe in a post via his official Twitter handle, @cornelosigwe said, “The girl I met doesn’t have the brain and capacity to manipulate her result. There is more to this story. A proper investigation needs to be done. Abeg let the poor breath.
“That girl was one of the most brilliant in her school, according to the principal, her parents couldn’t even afford to pay for her WAEC and NECO examinations. What advantage will it offer her to manipulate her JAMB score? Let the poor breathe pls.”
JAMB in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, July 2, 2023, noted that Ejike inflated her UTME result from 249 to 362 and used her inflated score to attract a N3 million scholarship from Innoson Motors, and was set to be awarded by the Anambra State government before she was exposed.
JAMB did not respond to BusinessDay’s calls and messages for further comments on the saga
