By Gift Obiajuru Ukadikebuazua

Following the allegation of UTME result manipulation posed on Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma by JAMB, the Anambra state government constituted a committee of inquiry to investigate the fraud allegation.

Miss Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, Anambra state, admitted to manipulateling her UTME result using her mobile phone.

JAMB released the 2023 UTME results in May, 2023, after which she claimed to have scored the highest in the examination conducted by the board for 2023 candidates, with a score of 362. Her claim earned her as the highest scorer earned her recognitions and a scholarship worth N3 million naira by IVM Innoson Group.

With JAMB’s attention drawn to her result claim, the board made an announcement through its spokesman, Dr. Fabian Banjamin, denying the claim of Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma being the highest scorer in the 2023, stating that Miss Mmesoma faked the UTME result she is parading with the intent of fraud to gain recognitions and scholarship. The board spoke that her actual result is 249 and not 362 as she claims.

Miss Mmesoma had earlier debunked the claim by JAMB as untrue, that she couldn’t have manipulated her own result. With the uncertainty and the concerns the controversy on result Manipulation had raised across the country, the Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo set up a committee of inquiry to probe the issue.

A report by the inquiry committee signed by the Commissioner of Information in Anambra State, Paul Nwosu, stated that it carried out interviews with relevant parties, with JAMB officials, Miss Mmesoma, Miss Mmesoma’s principal and other people involved in the process.

In the report, it is noted that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exposed that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma made several requests to JAMB seeking her result and each time she received a total of 249 aggregate in her phone.

The committee said that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma later admits in the presence of her school principal and the education secretary that the narration of JAMB is true. The committee tried probing the reason behind her deed, she stated nothing motivated her action.

According to the Committee’s report which states that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma is expected to write an apology to JAMB, Anglican Girls Secondary School (her school) and the Government of Anambra State.

A part in the report reads that, “Recall Mr Governor that with the recent release of scores of candidates who applied for admission by the JAMB and subsequent announcement of Nkechiyere Umeh as the candidate with the highest score of 360, Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, a 19-year-old student of Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi, from Enugu State, protested to the state government that she scored 362 and ought to have been so recognised.”

The report further stating that, “This has elicited interest and generated serious controversy and misgivings among the general public that the state government in its wisdom decided to constitute a committee of inquiry to look into the under-listed terms of reference; review Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s JAMB results and associated documents.

“Conduct interviews with relevant parties, including Mmesoma, JAMB officials and any other individual(s) involved in the process. Provide recommendations based on the findings of the investigation.

“The committee invited Mmesoma, the Principal of Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, and officials of JAMB for an interactive session with the Committee.

“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.

“A number of red flags were also highlighted by JAMB officials showing a different date of birth, different Registration Number, and Notification of results template that has been discarded since 2021, amongst others.

“It was also evident that even the centre name ‘Nkemefuna Foundation (Thomas Chidoka Centre for Human Development as it was known before now) used for the examination was also manipulated where the candidate used the old name of the centre (Thomas Chidoka Centre for Human Development) in her own manipulated result sheet.

“In Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s submission, 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 having given a manipulated result by herself unaided, using the same phone Airtel Number.

“According to her, she proceeded to the cybercafé (Prisca Global Computers, Uruagu, Nnewi) where she printed the results she had manipulated.

“The Committee tried to find out the motive behind her action, but Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma said nothing.

“In their own submissions, the Principal Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu, Nnewi, and the Education Secretary — Diocese of Nnewi (Anglican Communion) expressed shock at what transpired where in their presence, Mmesoma admitted to have manipulated her UTME results, deceiving the school, her immediate family and the state government.”

The committee of inquiry gave recommendations after its findings and the recommendations are:

1. That Elikeme Joy Mmesoma tenders an unreserved written apology to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the School (Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi) and the Anambra State Government. This should be done immediately.

2. That Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma should undergo a psychological counselling and therapy.

3. All prospective candidates for JAMB’s Admission should adhere strictly to guidelines, processes and procedures of the examination body.

Finally, the Committee of Inquiry praised JAMB for their diligent handling of the matter and the information supplied about the interface with the candidate, including that “we hope that this unearthing of the truth as we have discovered will go a long way in correcting the sentiments, misconceptions and deceptions that have been in the public domain”.

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