JAMB said it has since 2021 stopped issuing notifications of result slips as being paraded by Miss Mmesoma.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has barred Ejikeme Mmesoma, the candidate accused of manipulating her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test scores, from taking its exam for the next three years.
This is as the examination body has also withdrawn the 249 score, which it claimed is the real score obtained by the candidate in the examination.
But some commentators have accused JAMB of rushing to judgement, saying it should have waited for the outcome of the investigations by the security operatives.
Background
JAMB had on Sunday accused the candidate of allegedly manipulating her results and inflating the scores from 249 to 362. But the candidate insisted that the 362 was the score she received both on the JAMB website and in the SMS sent to her by the board.
However, JAMB has restated its earlier position that the UTME result presented by Miss Mmesoma is "patently fake", alleging that there is an infraction on the part of the candidate.
Sanction
JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin, in a statement on Tuesday, said the board has withdrawn the candidate's 2023 UTME result and barred her from taking the test for the next three years.
"The management of the Board, after considering the weighty infraction committed by Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, and in line with its established procedures, has withdrawn her 2023 UTME result and also barred her from sitting the Board's examination for the next three years," JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, said in a statement on Tuesday.
'Evidence of forgery'
According to the statement, JAMB said it stopped issuing the notification of the result slip currently being paraded by the candidate.
JAMB said it started issuing actual result slips instead 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," Mr Benjamin said.
He said the board's system was never tampered with or compromised, alleging that the candidate falsified a copy of another candidate's result slip.
"The candidate simply falsified a copy of a result slip of a candidate named "Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle", who sat the UTME in 2021 and scored 138.
"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," JAMB alleges.
Not the first time
According to Mr Benjamin, this is not the first time candidates would make such claims, even as he cited the case of John Chinedu Ifesinachi, who reportedly sued JAMB and requested damages of N2 billion. "Only for the lawyers to later apologise profusely for their clients' misadventure."
"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 candidate and the lawyer apologised," Mr Benjamin said.
Open prosecution
Meanwhile, while JAMB said it had handed the case to relevant security agencies for thorough investigations, Mr Benjamin said the body is ready for an open public session involving the candidate, parents or guardian and her legal team, as well as relevant anti-corruption and human rights agencies of government to observe the sessions.
"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," he added.
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Ezekwesili speaks
A former Minister of Education, Obi Ezekwesili, has called for a comprehensive investigation into the controversy.
In a post on her verified Twitter handle, Ms Ezekwesili called for an independent tech investigation to look into the facts of the matter.
"This saga between Mmesoma Ejikeme and @JAMBHQ requires an Independent Tech investigation to unearth all facts," she wrote. "Listening to her in this video, it is reasonable to request a forensic investigation to help reveal what really happened. I have reached out to the Registrar of JAMB. An independent investigation would turn this curious episode into a Learning Opportunity for @JAMBHQ and everyone, especially students. I frankly see no downsides in asking a team of Independent Technology folks to investigate and publicly share their findings. Let's do it".
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe
