The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has insisted that the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result being paraded by Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma was patently faked.
A statement released by JAMB’s spokesperson on Tuesday, stated that the Board after considering the weighty infraction committed by Ms. Ejikeme, and in line with it’s established procedures, has withdrawn her 2023 UTME result and also barred her from sitting the Board’s examination for the next three years.
JAMB in the statement claimed that Ejikeme simply falsified a copy of a result slip of a candidate named “Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle”, who sat the UTME in 2021 and scored 138 adding that its system was neither tampered with nor compromised.
“It is also instructive to note that the candidate, in her statement, has inadvertently revealed the rightful owner of the result she is parading when she pointed out that the QR code on the result slip showed the actual owner of the said result before she peddled a lie in an attempt to obfuscate the truth.
“To witness the unassailable position of the Board regarding this obvious falsehood, the general public is, therefore, urged to endeavour to scan the QR code on the result slip to see its actual owner before it was mutilated.
“It is to be noted that the QR code encapsulates the UTME result of each candidate, hence, what is on the result sheet is nothing other than the interpretation of the information on this QR code.
“Furthermore, the public is also to note that the Board stopped issuing Notification of Result slips after the 2021 UTME for the simple reason that candidates were falsifying them. Consequently, the Board has been issuing actual UTME RESULT Slips (not notification of results) since 2022 complete with the photograph of each candidate.
“Similarly, the public is also invited to ponder on the fact that out of all the candidates that sat the 2023 UTME, only Ms. Ejikeme Mmesoma parades the obsolete ‘Notification of Result,’” the statement said.
The Board added that it remains unperturbed by this development as this is not the first time such fraudulent claims have been made.
“As such, Nigerians are urged to recall numerous occasions where the Board was sued for billions of naira only for the lawyers to later apologise profusely for their clients’ misadventure.
“Prominent among these is the case of a candidate, John Chinedu Ifesinachi, who, in 2021, wrote a letter to the Board, threatening to sue for N2b damages, only for him and his counsel to tender unreserved apology when the candidate eventually confessed his crime in the face of incontrovertible facts in an open investigation observed by several national public institutions including the Public Complaints Commission, National Human Rights Commission, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council, Servicom and media houses,” the statement said.
The statement added that the case have been handed over to relevant security agencies for a thorough investigation to unravel the masterminds of the examination scam.
“The Board is not averse to public scrutiny and is ready for open public session involving the agencies listed above as well as relevant security agencies where the candidate, parent’s guardian, and her legal team will be present,” it said.
The statement called on Nigerians to examine critically the issue at hand and avoid fake news trafficking.
The Board urged individuals who are determined to goad the candidate on a “unproductive path” to have a rethink as their evil machinations would soon come to light.
“Again, the Board restates its readiness for genuine scrutiny as this case would not be the first time and might not even be the last of such shenanigans. At the end of the day, the truth would manifest and the Board vindicated,” it said.