After being awarded a N3 million scholarship for achieving the highest score in the 2023 UTME exam in Anambra, a student named Ejikeme Mmesoma has been accused by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) of fabricating her results. According to JAMB, Ejikeme deliberately manipulated her score to secure the scholarship from Innoson Motors. Her deceit was uncovered when the Anambra State government contacted JAMB to verify her claim of being the highest scorer, only to discover that she had actually scored 249 instead of the claimed 362. JAMB has stated that Ejikeme will face prosecution, and they will investigate other candidates who have falsely claimed higher scores. The board emphasized the need for authenticity and warned against celebrating fraudulent practices, urging individuals who wish to invest in genuine students to obtain results directly from the Board.
The statement reads in part;
“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 (Dr.) 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 the 362 she claimed. She had manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public to fraudulently obtain scholarships and other recognitions.”
The statement further noted that the board is aware of another instance of fraudulent behaviour involving a candidate who falsely asserted to have obtained an aggregate score of 380 in the 2023 UTME.
Punishment for highest scoring Anambra UTME student, others who faked UTME result
“We commended the likes of Dr. Innocent Chukwuma and wish to encourage other Nigerians, who desire to invest in the future of genuine youngsters, never to be discouraged but to always ensure that they get the authentic results from the Board as done by the Anambra State Ministry of Education; otherwise they will be celebrating criminality as this is just another new fraudulent method in town.
“However, these candidates only succeed in manipulating what they are holding, as the authentic results are with the Board and would be transmitted to their schools of choice at the appropriate time.
“It is to be noted that Miss Mmesoma had sent a message to the Board’s platform to request her UTME result, after which she manually inflated her scores and pasted same on the 2022 UTME result sheet. Unknown to her, the Board had changed the design of the 2023 UTME result sheet.
Her original result remains 249, as nothing can change that. 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.”