The House of Representatives has instructed the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to cease any further action regarding the alleged manipulation of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result by candidate Miss Ejikeme Mmesoma. This directive came after the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Awaji-Inombek D. Abiante, calling for an investigation into the alleged manipulation.
The House also called on JAMB to lift the sanction imposed on the candidate, which bars her from participating in the examination for three years. Additionally, the House recommended that independent examiners assess Mmesoma’s script to determine her actual score. An ad-hoc committee will be established to investigate the alleged manipulation and is expected to submit its report within three weeks.
Furthermore, the House plans to conduct an investigation into JAMB facilities to prevent similar incidents in the future. The scope of the committee’s probe has been expanded to include special examination centers across the country.
The House acknowledged that Miss Ejikeme Mmesoma of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, Anambra State, claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME. However, JAMB’s Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, publicly accused Mmesoma of manipulating her result and claimed that she actually scored 249. Mmesoma defended herself, stating that she printed her result from JAMB.
The House highlighted Mmesoma’s outstanding academic record and expressed doubt that she would manipulate her UTME result. It emphasized the possibility of technical glitches when uploading or downloading results electronically and stressed the need to establish the facts before assigning blame.
JAMB is responsible for conducting matriculation examinations for admissions into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in Nigeria. Every year, graduating secondary school students and others with qualifying results apply to sit for the UTME through JAMB to gain admission to higher education institutions. Students are expected to check their results on the JAMB portal once they are released.
