An Anambra State pupil named Mmesoma Ejikeme appeared before a House of Representatives ad hoc committee in Abuja after being accused of forging her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result. The teenager had initially claimed to be the top scorer in the 2023 UTME with a score of 362, but later admitted to manipulating her result from 249 to 362.
Mmesoma tendered an apology to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for her actions. JAMB had imposed a three-year ban on her as a consequence of the forgery, leading to a heated debate in the House of Representatives. The House intervened and called for a stay of action on the imposed sanction.
During a probe by the Anambra State Government’s Commission of Inquiry into the case, Mmesoma confessed to forging her result. She again appeared before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee to address the matter.
Mmesoma pleaded for leniency and asked JAMB to lift the three-year ban. She expressed regret for her actions, acknowledging that she obtained her fake JAMB result from a portal other than JAMB’s official website. She attributed her misdeed to ignorance and asked for forgiveness for the pain she caused.
However, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disputed her claim, stating that Mmesoma had conspired with others to forge her result intentionally. He also mentioned that JAMB had closed down more than eight UTME centers that were involved in result manipulation.
