The eight-man panel set up by Anambra State government to probe the controversy that arose from Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result belonging to Mmesoma Ejikeme, as student of Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi, has found her guilty of manipulation and forgery.
Mmesoma had advertised a result in which she score 362 marks out of a total of 400 in the 2023 UTME. The result so posted attracted national applause with the CEO of INNOSON Motors gifting her N3m scholarship.
Similarly, Anambra State government which was preparing to also reward Mmesoma, being a citizen of the South East state, had forwarded the result to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for confirmation..
In its response, JAMB told Anambra state government that from their records, Mmesoma score 246 marks and not 362, adding that what she posted was not authentic but forged, a development that triggered national and global uproar .
Shocked by the twist in events, the Anambra State government set up a panel to probe the controversy, saying JAMB did not handle the matter very well and that it must get to the root of it.
But in a report it submitted Friday, the probe panel confirmed that Mmesoma manipulated her result and presented a forged version to the public.
The panel also recommended that Mmesoma should immediately tender an unreserved written apology to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, the school (Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi), and the state government and should as well undergo psychological counseling and therapy.
The panel report, addressed to the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo was made public by the the Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu on Friday.
The panel said it conducted interviews with relevant parties, including Mmesoma, JAMB officials and other individual(s) involved in the process as well as the principal of Anglican Girls Secondary School.
According to the panel, 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 which differed substantially from the standard JAMB format where she got an appropriate rebuttal stating her real score of 249.
“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 panel commended JAMB for their diligent handling of the matter and the information supplied about the interface with the candidate.
“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.
“Finally, we thank Mr. Governor for setting up this Committee, and, for the confidence reposed in the committee,” it added