The controversies trailing the result of Miss Joy Mmesoma in the recent Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are far from abating as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has barred the candidate from sitting the examination for the next three years.
The Board has also withdrawn her said result pending further investigation into the matter.
Dr Fabian Benjamin, Acting Director, Public Affairs Department of JAMB, stated on Tuesday morning, sticking to its earlier position that the UTME result being paraded by Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma is patently fake.
“In the meantime, the management of the Board, after considering the weighty infraction committed by Ms Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, and in line with its established procedures, has withdrawn her 2023 UTME result and barred her from sitting the Board’s examination for the next three years,” the statement noted.
He said the Board would like to reassure Nigerians that its system was neither tampered with nor compromised as 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 to obfuscate the truth.
“To witness the unassailable position of the Board regarding this obvious falsehood, the 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.
“Furthermore, the public is also to note 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.’
“The Board remains unperturbed by this unfortunate development as this is not the first time such fraudulent claims have been made. As such, Nigerians are urged to recall numerous occasions where the Board was sued for billions of naira only for the lawyers to later apologise profusely for their clients’ misadventures.
“Prominent among these is the case of a candidate, John Chinedu Ifesinachi, who, in 2021, wrote a letter to the Board, threatening to sue for N2b damages, only for him and his counsel to tender unreserved apology when the candidate eventually confessed his crime 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.
“This case has, therefore, been rightly handed over to relevant security agencies for a thorough investigation to unravel the masterminds of yet another unfortunate scam.
“The Board is not averse to public scrutiny and is ready for an 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.
“Another frightening dimension to the unfolding drama is the unwholesome interest of some nefarious elements, who to all intents and purposes, are determined to goad the candidate on this unproductive path as any casual observer would observe with the obviously stage-managed video aired by Ms Ejikeme. The Board urges these confusionists to have to rethink as their evil machinations would soon become known.
“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.
“In the meantime, the management of the Board urges members of the public to examine critically the issue at hand and avoid fake news trafficking,” Dr Fabian stated.