Embattled 19-year-old student Ejikeme Mmesoma, has narrated how she manipulated her 2023 UTME result, Daily Trust reports.
Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, has been a subject of intense debate in the last seven days over the claim that she got 362 in this year’s UTME.
The controversy started weeks after Mmesoma had been celebrated for winning a N3m scholarship courtesy of Innoson Motors.
The 19-year-old insisted on being formally recognized by JAMB as the highest scorer in the 2023 UTME.
According to the Anambra State government, Mmesoma reported JAMB to the state Commissioner for Education for not recognizing her as the candidate with the highest score.
This prompted the ministry to complain to JAMB on her behalf only to hear a bombshell that she scored 249 as against the 362 she had claimed to get.
READ ALSO: UTME Saga: Come Clean With Source Of Result – Chidoka Tells Mmesoma
Subsequently, the board issued a statement that the result she was parading was forged. JAMB has since withdrawn her 2023 results and barred her from sitting the exam for the next three years.
Mmesoma, however, insisted that she scored 362. The 19-year-old did a video holding a notification slip purportedly issued by JAMB. She also asked the public to disregard the allegation against her, stating that it had left her “traumatised”.
Meanwhile, JAMB said it stopped using the notification slip presented by Mmesoma in 2021 and challenged any candidate with a similar slip to show it to the world. But on Wednesday morning, the 19-year-old admitted that she indeed received an automated text message from JAMB indicating that her score was 249 but that she saw 362 when she checked through the USSD code.
Despite this confession, Anambra State government still thinks the forged result should be investigated.
The State Governor Charles Soludo, set up a committee to investigate the issue.
But few days into the sitting of the eight-man panel of inquiry, Mmesoma appeared on a television programme where she backed down on her claim of scoring 362.
In its report, the panel indicted the candidate and asked her to tender an apology to JAMB.
According to the report of the panel, Mmseoma was summoned alongside JAMB officials and those of the school she attends.
READ ALSO: Mixed Reactions Trail Mmesoma’s Common Entrance Result Amid ‘Fake’ UTME Brouhaha
“Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma admitted that she manipulated the fake results herself, using her phone.
“She owned up in the presence of her principal, and the Education Secretary that the narration by the JAMB officials was a true and correct description of what transpired. She also admitted to have given a manipulated result by herself unaided, using same phone Airtel Number.
“The Principal, Anglican Girls’ Secondary School — Mrs Edu Uche and the Education Secretary, Diocese of Nnewi (Anglican Communion) expressed dismay at the conduct of Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma.
“According to her, she proceeded to the cybercafe (Prisca Global Computers, Uruagu, Nnewi) where she printed the results she had manipulated,” the report read.
The report indicated that the candidate was well informed of her correct score, listing the multiple attempts she made to manipulate it.
“The result paraded by Ejikeme 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.
READ ALSO: UTME: There’s Conspiracy To Deprive My Daughter Of Her Success, Mmesoma’s Father Breaks His Silence
“JAMB officials led by Dr Fabian Benjamin, the Head of Public Affairs presented the detailed processes and procedures involved in JAMB admissions, the policy changes that have occurred in the release of UTME scores since 2021 and what specifically transpired between the candidate Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma with registration number: 20230639047FF in her quest to obtain her JAMB score.
“JAMB revealed the different times that Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma made several requests to the JAMB portal asking for her results at different hours, and each of these times (four in number), she received in her phone, same results from JAMB indicating candidate’s UTME Results to Wit: Eng: 64, Phy:54, Bio: 74, Che: 57 with a total aggregate score of 249.
“JAMB disclosed that the candidate was well informed of her correct score.
“Mmesoma had sent a request to JAMB with a different registration number showing a UTME result of an aggregate score of 362, with Eng: 98, Phy: 89, Bio: 94, and Che: 81.
“The results she sent differed substantially from the standard JAMB format where she got an appropriate rebuttal stating her real score of 249.”