The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has maintained its earlier position that the UTME result being paraded by Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma is “patently fake”.
The Board subsequently withdrew her 2023 UTME result and also barred her from sitting the Board’s examination for the next three years.
The Ag. Director PAP, Fabian Benjamin, Ph.D, stated these in a release, adding that the decision was arrived at “after considering the weighty infraction committed by Ms. Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, and in line with it’s established procedures.”
It stated that the case has being handed over to relevant security agencies for thorough investigation “to unravel the masterminds of yet another unfortunate scam.”
The Board however reassured Nigerians that its system was neither tampered with nor compromised.
“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 stated.
JAMB also stated that Nmesoma, in her statement, “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.”
JAMB also informed 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,'” Benjamin added in the release.
He said the Board remains unperturbed by this unfortunate development “as this is not the first time such fraudulent claims have been made.”
He urged Nigerians to recall numerous occasions when JAMB was sued for billions of naira only for the lawyers to later apologise profusely for their clients’ misadventure.
Benjamin said prominent among these was the case of a candidate, John Chinedu Ifesinachi, who, in 2021, wrote a letter to the Board, threatening to sue for N2b damages.
He added that Ifesinachi and his counsel only later tendered unreserved apology when the candidate eventually confessed his crime in the face of incontrovertible facts.
The facts, he said, were revealed after 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.
“This [Ejikeme Nmesoma’s] case has, therefore, being rightly handed over to relevant security agencies for thorough investigation to unravel the masterminds of yet another unfortunate 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,” he added.
JAMB also averred that the video in which Ejikeme Nmesoma refuted the allegation of result forgery was obviously stage-managed by “some nefarious elements, who to all intents and purposes, are determined to goad the candidate on this unproductive path.”
“The Board urges these confusionists to have a rethink as their evil machinations would soon come to light.”
JAMB also restated its readiness for genuine scrutiny, noting that the 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.”
Benjamin added: “In the meantime, the management of the Board urges member of the public to examine critically the issue at hand and avoid fake news trafficking.
“The management of the Board, after considering the weighty infraction committed by Ms. Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, 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.”
