The House of Representatives, during a plenary in Abuja, has issued a call to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to suspend any punitive measures against Miss Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme. Rep. Awaji-Inombek Abiante (PDP-Bayelsa) presented a motion which led to this decision. The motion was adopted by the House of Representatives.
Miss Ejikeme, a student at Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, Anambra, allegedly falsified her JAMB score. While JAMB recorded her score as 249 in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), she claimed to have scored 362. The matter gained attention when JAMB's Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, accused Ejikeme of manipulating her UTME score in a statement issued on July 2. In response, Ejikeme defended herself by stating that she obtained her result from the JAMB website and had consistently performed excellently in her previous academic pursuits.
Rep. Abiante emphasized the possibility of technical glitches and electronic discrepancies when uploading or downloading exam results or data in Nigeria. He stressed the importance of conducting a thorough investigation before assigning blame. Dr. Benjamin had earlier alleged that some candidates in the 2023 UTME were presenting counterfeit scores to gain unfair advantages, thus necessitating a comprehensive inquiry into the matter.
To address this issue, the House of Representatives has formed an ad hoc committee with the mandate to investigate the alleged manipulation of Ejikeme's UTME results. The committee is expected to submit its report within one week, following which further legislative actions will be taken.