The House of Representatives has called on the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to lift the three-year ban imposed on Miss Ejikeme Mmesoma, a candidate of the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), who was accused of manipulating her result.
During the plenary session, the House also established an ad hoc committee chaired by Sada Soli to investigate the allegations of result manipulation and falsification.
Furthermore, the House resolved to conduct an inquiry into JAMB’s facilities to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. The committee will also examine the issue of special examination centers across the country.
As a result, the House has instructed JAMB to refrain from taking any further action regarding the matter until the investigation is concluded and its outcome determined.
These resolutions were made in response to a motion titled “Call to Investigate Alleged Manipulation of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) by Miss Ejikeme,” presented during the plenary by Hon. Awaji-Inombek D. Abiante.
Abiante highlighted that JAMB is responsible for conducting Matriculation Examinations for admissions into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in Nigeria. He emphasized the need for an investigation into the allegations.
According to the motion, Miss Ejikeme Mmesoma from Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, Anambra State, scored 362 in the 2023 UTME. However, on July 2, 2023, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, publicly accused Miss Ejikeme Mmesoma of manipulating her result, claiming that she had actually scored 249 instead of the reported 362.
Miss Ejikeme Mmesoma defended herself, asserting that she had obtained her result from the official JAMB portal and had consistently excelled in her previous academic examinations. She denied any involvement in result manipulation.
The motion stressed the importance of establishing the facts before assigning blame, acknowledging that technical glitches can occur when uploading or downloading results electronically in Nigeria.
During discussions on the motion, lawmakers expressed the need for a thorough investigation to uncover the truth behind the allegations. They emphasized the presumption of innocence for the candidate until the investigation is concluded.
The House adopted the motion and granted the committee a three-week period to complete its investigation and report back to the House for further legislative action.