REGISTRAR of the Joint Admissions Matriculations Board (JAMB) Is-haq Oloyede on Tuesday, July 4, disclosed that investigations into the alleged falsification of results by Mmesoma Ejikeme had been concluded.
According to a report, Is-haq said the Board also identified other candidates who falsified their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results as well.
“Presently, there is an industry faking results, and unfortunately, they cannot penetrate JAMB system, reasons being that (our) system is foolproofed, and we will prove it any time. It is unfortunate that parents and some of the candidates that are being fooled are not aware that they are only being fooled.
“There is internal evidence to show that the change in Ejikeme’s scores was done with her collaboration. There are certain features pertaining to her that only her knows unless she makes it available to somebody else. They couldn’t have increased her scores on her behalf,” Oloyede said.
The registrar further disclosed that he had discussed with former minister of education Oby Ezekwesili over the issue and described the result as a careless case of forgery.
Ezekwesili had reacted to a video released by Ejikeme on Monday, July 3 and called for an independent forensic investigation into the result.
Ejikeme had been celebrated for emerging as the overall best candidate for the 2023 UTME. However, JAMB disputed the result and described it as inflated.
The examination body said Ejikeme originally scored 249 and manipulated the result to secure scholarships fraudulently.
Nigerian automobile manufacturer Innoson Motors awarded Ejikeme a N3 million scholarship but threatened to withdraw it if she was found guilty.
Despite the allegations, Ejikeme insisted in a video Monday that she printed the result being described as manipulated directly from the JAMB portal.
“This is my aggregate, 362. This is exactly how I printed it out and downloaded from that site. So they now saying that I forged my result, is what I don’t know, and I’m traumatised that they accused me of forging my own result. I am not capable of this,” she said, holding up a copy of the printed result sheet,” she said.
Meanwhile, a statement by JAMB Public Relations Officer (PRO) Fabian Benjamin disclosed that Ejikeme has been barred from taking the examination for three years.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.