JAMB, in a policy document obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, noted that 12 out of the 21 candidates were recommended by the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

“JAMB discovered that 21 candidates who paraded fake IJMB results were recommended during the 2023 admission.  They were not approved.

“Twelve of the recommendations were by ABU, Zaria – what an audacious attitude. Recommendations were possible because certificate screening was done after

Registration, Five institutions were involved in the recommendations; JAMB insists that all certificates must have the signature of the Head of the institution (VC/Provost/Rector).”

JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement on Wednesday, said the information became necessary as some individuals were already circulating printed result slips on social media.

Benjamin said unlike last year, the results at the moment are not and cannot be found on the JAMB’s website.

He said,“The board, once again, wishes to state clearly that the only way to check the 2024 UTME result is to send UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019, using the same phone used by the candidate in registering for the UTME. Ensure that the SIM is not on any bundle. This is different from what obtained last year, hence, the results, at the moment, are not and cannot be found on the board’s website.Candidates are urged to follow the method specified above to obtain their results. They need not visit any cybercafe or patronise any third-party entity to check their result.The public is also advised to be wary of any candidate parading printed result slip as currently, the result is not on any paper format as being circulated on social media by some individuals.A reasonable number of candidates have checked their results as seen on our monitoring dashboard but for the few still struggling, please follow the right channel.”

JAMB on Monday announced the release of the 2024 UTME results.

The Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said the results of 64,624 out of the 1,904,189, who sat the examination, were withheld by the board and would be subjected to investigation.

The board accused Ejikeme of forging her result and has banned her for three years. In a statement released today, the board also announced it has withdrawn her result. Mmesoma has since denied the allegation.

Weighing in on the matter, Charly Boy raised doubts over JAMB’s claims, calling for her script to be sent to an external body to be re-marked.

“JAMB must produce her paper for an external body to remark. I don’t trust the mark they claim they awarded her right now. JAMB has ended up making the young girl popular and the girl on the other hand exposed JAMB’s corruption & ineptitude just like INEC.” he wrote on Twitter

Oloyede made this disclosure in a transcript sent to our correspondent from Windhoek, Namibia.

He said, “The truth is that JAMB has concluded the investigation on Nmesoma’s score falsification matter. She was not the only one caught, just that others have chosen not to go out”, Oloyede said.

Presently, there is an industry faking results and unfortunately they cannot penetrate JAMB system, reasons being that (our) system is foolproofed and we will prove it any time. It is unfortunate that parents and some of the candidates that are being fooled are not aware that they are only being fooled.

There is internal evidence to show that the change in Ejikeme’s scores was done with her collaboration. There are certain features pertaining to her that only her knows unless she makes it available to somebody else. They couldn’t have increased her scores on her behalf.”

The Registrar said he had earlier spoken with a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, on Nmesoma’s matter, and told her that it was a high-level scam.

We improved on our facilities this year, so Ejikeme and her collaborators are still living in the past. I spoke with Mrs Ezekwesili on the matter and I told her that it is a high-level scam and I told her that it was a careless forgery.

“This is because we are no longer using some of the things they used in changing those results since 2021. We used that pattern in 2021 and you saw what happened and many of such individuals were caught as well and they were treated accordingly,” he stated.

The examination body said it also uncovered one Atung Gerald from Kaduna  State, who never sat the exam, but claimed to have scored 380.

In a statement on Sunday by its spokesman, Dr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB said it found the case of Mmesoma particularly pathetic as she had allegedly hoodwinked unspecting members of the public, including businessman, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, who offered her N3m in scholarship, while a state honour was being planned to celebrate her.

The JAMB spokesperson said, “The attention of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has been drawn to several publications in both print and online media  celebrating certain candidates for being high scorers in the 2023 UTME.

“The  board is constrained to set the records straight and wishes to state unequivocally that many of the results which many of these candidates are parading are fake. In many instances, some of these candidates had actually obtained far lower scores than they are claiming and had used some funny software packages to manipulate their results to deceive unsuspecting members of the public.

“The most pathetic of them all is the case of Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME and was awarded a N3m scholarship by Chief Innocent Chukwuma. She was even set to be honoured by the Anambra State Government when one of its top officials put a call through to JAMB to confirm her claim only for the board to reveal that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma had actually scored 249 and not 362 she claimed.

“She had manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public to fraudulently obtain scholarship and other recognitions.”

On the case of Gerald, who claimed to have scored 380, JAMB said, “His ethnic group had taken the issue up, requesting that he should be given special recognition only for the board to disappoint them with the incontestable fact that Atung never obtained the 2023 UTME application documents not to talk of sitting the examination.”

JAMB said, “With this her ignoble act, Miss  Mmesoma would be prosecuted and her original result withdrawn. This is not all, as the board would, in due course,  investigate all candidates laying claims to higher scores than they actually obtained.

“Once discovered, such candidates’ original results would be withdrawn forthwith and they would be handed over to relevant security agencies for prosecution.”

The Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, told The PUNCH that the state already discovered Nmesioma’s claim to be false and had gone ahead to honour another candidate, Nkechinyere Umeh, who scored 360.

However, universities are at liberty to decide individual cut-off marks but no university will be allowed to admit any candidate who scores below the 140 benchmark, JAMB registrar, Prof.Ishaq Oloyede, made this known during the 2023 policy meeting ongoing in Abuja.

For instance, the University of Jos proposed 180 as cut-off mark for admissions; the University of Ibadan proposed 200; University of Benin proposed 200; University of Lagos proposed 200; and the Federal University of Technology proposed 180, among others.

The Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, is the only university that proposed the highest benchmark of 220, while about 15 universities, most especially those in the private sector, advised that the benchmark be lowered to 120, a move that was rejected.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Andrew Adejoh, said, “We have heard the voices of the majority. Most of the universities have agreed and the decision stands that 140 is the minimum benchmark for university admissions.”

For the polytechnics, the minimum benchmark score was 100 for admissions, while Colleges of Education adopted the benchmark of 100 for admissions.

The event which will hold at the National Judicial Institute will have in attendance all heads of tertiary institutions and regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical
Education, the National Commission for Colleges of Education, among others.

In the weekly bulletin made available to our correspondent by the Director of Public Affairs, JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, the board said, “Only two representatives each from respective tertiary institutions, comprising the Head of the Institution and one official of the institution, who shall be nominated by the Head, will be welcomed.

“Other critical issues slated for discussion at the Policy Meeting aside from issues emanating from the presentation of the Registrar, JAMB, on the just-concluded UTME are other issues of national importance, particularly as they concern the education sector.

The meeting is also expected to chart policy directions for the nation’s tertiary institutions, set admission guidelines, present and analyse application statistics, and candidates’ performance, as well as evaluate the 2023 admission exercise.

“Furthermore, the policy meeting, among other things, would decide the acceptable minimum admissible score to be applied in all admissions to be undertaken by all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”

The meeting granted institutions the power to set their minimum allowable cut-off marks for admission, which they cannot go below once adopted and general concessions are reached.

The board made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday night in Abuja by the Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin.

1.6 million candidates across over 700 are expected to take the examination.

The statement read:  “Following the announcement, candidates, who for technical reasons could not take the examination, are to print a new examination notification early tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 26th April, 2023, to know their new scheduled sessions.

It is to be noted that about 100 centres out of the 708 centres participating in the 2023 UTME exercise across the country, experienced technical challenges that prevented their allotted candidates from successfully taking their examination.”

According to the statement, the board reiterated its determination to deploy world-class assessments in line with global best practices to deliver quality assessments and regretted any inconveniences experienced by candidates and their parents.

The statement further restated that the series of challenges encountered was on account of some novel features deployed by the board to safeguard the sanctity of the examination by checkmating all incidences of examination misconduct being perpetrated and perpetuated by vested interests.

The board in a statement by its Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin, explained that the registration which commenced on Monday, February 20, was suspended with effect from Tuesday, February 21, 2023.

The suspension, according to a statement issued by JAMB on Tuesday, is to enable the deployment of certain measures, which are designed to better serve prospective candidates.

The statement said, “A new date and fresh registration procedure, which will include the upload of JAMB Admission Letter in the case of OND and NCE, admission letter issued by universities in the case of university diploma, and admission letter issued by A’ Level examination bodies (IJMBE, JUPEB, etc.), would be announced in due course so that candidates could proceed to JAMB offices nationwide to register.”

JAMB had commenced the DE registration on Monday, February 20, 2023, and had slated it to end on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

“Candidates are also to note that only JAMB offices are approved to register them for Direct Entry,” the statement added.

The PUNCH reports that the training which held at the six geo-political zones of the country, simultaneously had most of the vice-chancellors, provosts, rectors and other administrative staff of tertiary institutions in attendance.

The examination body had recently announced full automation of its administration and other communication processes to all its stakeholders as a means of eliminating bureaucracy.

The Board mulled the policy after reviewing bottlenecks associated with communicating or interfacing with various institutions regarding admission processes.

The new policy is expected to begin from January, 2023.

“From January, the board will refrain from receiving any physical letter from any institution or agency except through its Interactive e-Brochure and e-Syllabus System”, the registrar of the board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede made this known in a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja.

Oloyede, who declared the North-Central Zonal workshop opened through a virtual conference at the College of Education, Federal Capital Territory, Zuba, Abuja, assured that correspondence between JAMB and individual institutions would be individualised, which meant that such communication would not be open to third parties, like in the case of WhatsApp.

Welcoming participants to the North-Central workshop, the Provost, College of Education, Zuba, Dr Sule Mundi, lauded JAMB for innovations in its test system.

He said the new initiative would go a long way in further strengthening education in the country.

Oloyede is really a reformer in JAMB, as he has put every system in place to reduce to the barest minimum hardened corruption and ineptitude in the examination body.

“I have no doubt that your impressive turn-out by the show of attendance and intention for participation at this training is a testimony of your appreciation of the invaluable role of JAMB in continuously finding ways to improve methods of identifying and placing suitably qualified candidates in the available places in all our schools.

“This meeting and training is intended to brainstorm on interactive e-Brochure and e-Syllabus System otherwise referred to as the Interactive Brochure and Syllabus System. We therefore wish to welcome our distinguished facilitators who will be leading us and getting us familiar with this groundbreaking process of automation of curriculum, accreditation, admission, and general administration matters between the Board, tertiary institutions and their regulatory agencies.

“It is my deep conviction that the understanding of this training will ensure seamless communication between JAMB, institutions and their regulatory agencies in addition to providing candidates with the various admission requirements needed from them from their prospective tertiary institutions, ” Dr Mundi stated.

Oloyede, while announcing the take off of the policy earlier, explained that the automation of curriculum, accreditation and general administration mattered among JAMB, regulatory agencies and institutions would provide personalised services to the institutions and agencies as only JAMB and the institution would be able to see any communication on the platform.

We discovered that we spent our time attending to letters from some major stakeholders of the board, notably the National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education and National Commission for Colleges of Education. Apart from these stakeholders, we also receive correspondences from 890 institutions across the country.

“The regulatory agencies often appeal to us for approval of new programmes and accreditation of programmes. And what we receive from institutions is essentially about admissions and registration or accreditation of new courses or quota issue.

“With this platform, if the NUC approves admission quota, it would be centralised in such a way that as soon as you see ‘approved’, everybody will see it and there is no need to write to JAMB,” he initially explained.