The claims and counterclaims over the authenticity or otherwise of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB score obtained by Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme, a 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME candidate in Anambra State has led to heated debate among prominent Nigerians as top government functionaries wade into the saga.
Contrary to speculations that she is 16 years old, the 19-year-old claimed that she got her result notification slip for the UTME with a score of 362 out of 400 from the JAMB results portal, but the board argued that she is parading a forged result on a template it discontinued in 2021 and that her official score is 249.
During an interview with Channels Tv, on Wednesday, Mmesoma said she first checked her result on the JAMB portal, where she saw a score of 362. She added that she checked her result on the phone and not at a computer centre or a cyber cafe.
In her words“I went to the JAMB portal. There, I tried to get my result, then they directed me to another site. There, I put in my registration number, and the result came out,” she said. “I didn’t go to any computer centre. It’s the result they gave me that I downloaded.”
The UTME candidate also said that she saw 362 when she checked her result using the USSD code provided by JAMB.
“The one I checked on the USSD code is the 362 that I saw,” she said.
“The only SMS I sent to JAMB was through the JAMB student support system, but they didn’t reply.
“After all said and done, I now saw that I got 249. Then I sent them a message there to know what really happened –on the JAMB support system. If they go to their system they’ll see it there.”
Mmesoma in her reaction to the three-year ban from the examination body said she should not be blamed for the controversy.
“It’s not my fault that I printed my result like that and they said that I forged my result. It’s not my fault. So, them banning it is not fair.”
It would be recalled that JAMB in a statement issued by its spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin refuted Mmesoma’s claims while insisting that the acclaimed result did not emanate from its online portal.
Mr. Benjamin said their records indicated that the candidate had sent a series of messages to the board’s automated telecoms system, including the results showing an aggregate of 362.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday expressed concerns that the exam body acted in an unprofessional manner in a matter involving a minor by withdrawing the candidate’s result and banning her for three years.
They said the girl may have been manipulated by an adult.
The House subsequently set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the matter and asked JAMB to stay in action until the green chamber concludes its investigation.
