A panel of inquiry established by the Anambra state government has confirmed that Mmesoma Ejikeme, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, manipulated her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result.
The eight-member panel, appointed by the state governor Chukwuma Soludo, commenced its investigation on Wednesday, July 5, following allegations of result forgery against Ejikeme by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The report containing the findings, titled, ‘Report of the Committee on Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s JAMB Score Controversy’, was jointly signed by members of the panel and addressed to the state governor.
It stated that Ejikeme admitted to falsifying the results using her mobile phone without assistance.
She also admitted that the account provided by JAMB officials accurately described the sequence of events.
“The results paraded by Enkeme Joy Mmesoma with an aggregate score of 362 is fake as buttressed by the very significant and instructive variations in the registration number, date of birth, centre name and other infractions,” the report read.
She also confessed to printing the falsified results at a cybercafé named Prisca Global Computers in Uruagu, Nnewi.
The report directed that Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma should “immediately” tender an unreserved written apology to JAMB, the school (Anglican Girls Secondary School, Uruagu, Nnewi) and the Anambra State Government.
“Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma should undergo a psychological counselling and therapy. All prospective candidates for JAMB Admission should adhere strictly to guidelines, processes and procedures of the examination body,” it stated.
Ejikeme has been celebrated for emerging as the overall best candidate for the 2023 UTME.
But JAMB disputed her result a few days later, describing it as falsified, and barred her 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.