Confessions from individuals involved reveal methods for falsifying JAMB results.
Internationally, the outcome of exams determines one's potential for future success or failure. Excessive importance is placed on academic credentials, disregarding the practical application of acquired knowledge.
In this respect, certificates are seen as means to an end. Thus, all means whether straight or crooked are employed to acquire them.
It has been revealed that the desperation by candidates for the high scores to enable them to study their dream courses at the university and pressure from their parents push them into falsifying their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results. The culprits who were nabbed by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and confessed to falsifying their JAMB results also disclosed how examination syndicates which specialised in fake upgrade of results of candidates operated.
In the recent case, Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, Anambra, sat for the 2023 UTME and claimed to have scored 362. On July 2 this year however, JAMB, in a statement by its Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin accused the girl of manipulating her UTME score from 249 to 362. Miss Mmesoma and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have therefore engaged in accusations and counter-accusations over the authenticity of the candidate’s claim of scoring 362 in the 2023 UTME.
With the acclaimed 362 score, Mmesoma said she was the highest scorer in the examination as against the 360 reportedly scored by another candidate, Umeh Ukechinyere. JAMB said that based on its record, Miss Ukechinyere scored the highest mark in the 2023 UTME and not Miss Mmesoma.
In a video which has since gone viral on social media, Miss Mmesoma displayed a notification of a result slip containing the 362 score, which she claimed was generated from the JAMB portal. But the examination body has since disclaimed the document, saying it stopped using such format for result slips in 2021. Meanwhile, JAMB has announced the withdrawal of the candidate’s 249 score, and suspended her from taking the examinations for the next three years.
It’s unfair, it wasn’t my fault – Mmesoma
Explaining her role in the matter, Mmesoma said it was not her fault and that the three-year ban placed on her by JAMB was unfair. She said; “After our exams, I went to JAMB portal to get my result but it directed me to another server and that was where I printed that slip from. I did not go to any computer centre. The only SMS I sent to them was through the JAMB support system and there was no reply. After all said and done, I now saw that I got 249. Then I sent them a text message through the JAMB support system to know what really happened”.
On the three-year ban placed on her by JAMB and the withdrawal of her result, Mmesoma said; “I am sad about it because it was not my fault that I printed my result like that and they said that I forged it. It is not my fault. So, it is not fair for JAMB to ban me”.
Sources at the JAMB however said the operators of the portal from where she printed the fake result are already on the run and the security operatives are on their trail.
In response to the recent controversy surrounding Mmesoma's JAMB result, JAMB spokesman Dr. Fabian Benjamin clarified that the examination body does not hold any grudges against Mmesoma, as they have dealt with similar issues in the past. He stated that the reason this particular incident gained attention was because Mmesoma consistently insisted that the fake result she presented was genuine, despite being presented with substantial evidence of her original result.
Dr. Benjamin emphasized that the issue was straightforward, highlighting that there were clear discrepancies in the document Mmesoma presented. The result she showcased was from 2021, and even the address of the JAMB CBT center on her slip was incomplete. According to JAMB's procedures, complete addresses are sent to candidates to help them locate their examination centers. Dr. Benjamin assured that JAMB holds no personal bias against Mmesoma and pointed out that the highest score in the exam was obtained by another candidate from Anambra, who is also of Igbo ethnicity.
Furthermore, Mr. Osita Chidoka, the former Aviation Minister of Nigeria and owner of the CBT center where Mmesoma took her UTME, came forward to support JAMB's stance. Chidoka raised questions that cast doubt on the authenticity of the result Mmesoma presented, suggesting that it was indeed fake.
Overall, these statements from JAMB and Mr. Osita Chidoka indicate that there are strong indications pointing towards the falseness of Mmesoma's paraded JAMB result.
In an opinion piece he wrote, Mr. Osita Chidoka, the owner of the CBT center where Mmesoma took her JAMB exam, highlighted some important details that cast doubt on the authenticity of Mmesoma's result. He explained that when he saw her result online, he noticed two red flags. Firstly, the name of the examination center on the JAMB portal and the Main Examination Slip was different from what was shown on Mmesoma's result. The correct name of the center on the JAMB portal was Nkemefuna Foundation (Thomas Chidoka Centre for Human Development), but her result displayed only "Thomas Chidoka." This discrepancy raised suspicions about the genuineness of the result. Secondly, Mr. Chidoka compared Mmesoma's result template with those of other candidates who had taken the recent examination at his center and found notable differences. The result template Mmesoma presented lacked important elements such as the candidate's passport picture, JAMB watermarks, and the name of the examination center. These observations led Mr. Chidoka to conclude that Mmesoma's result was fake.
JAMB has stated that it is considering taking legal action against individuals who forge their UTME results in order to serve as a deterrent to future perpetrators. They specifically mentioned that the cases of Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme, who manipulated her score from 249 to 360, and Atung Gerald from Kaduna, who forged a result without even participating in the 2023 UTME and scored himself 380, will not be ignored or overlooked.
After hearing from Chinedu's lawyer and father, who accompanied him to JAMB's Headquarters, Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede gave them five minutes to privately talk to Chinedu and ask him to confess to manipulating his result. If Chinedu refused to confess and the truth was presented to him, he would be handed over to the police.
During the meeting with Chinedu, he remained stubborn and did not confess. JAMB then asked him to present his evidence, as he claimed to have received a text message regarding his result. However, when he showed the message on his phone, JAMB's technical team recognized that it was fake because it lacked a signature sign, which was a security feature present in other messages sent by JAMB's official number, 55019.
To further investigate, JAMB requested the communication history with Chinedu from the telecom service provider associated with the number he used. The details of all messages sent to him, starting from profile creation for registration up to the request for the result, were displayed. At this stage, Chinedu's lawyer realized the futility of the case.
During the proceedings, it was revealed that Chinedu was likely one of the candidates influenced by tutorial centers. When confronted with this information, he confessed to belonging to a tutorial group. The group had promised candidates various high scores as part of their modus operandi.
As Chinedu adamantly refused to take responsibility for his actions, JAMB, utilizing its security resources, proceeded to establish that the message he received did indeed come from a phone number saved as '55019.' Chinedu later admitted that this number belonged to his sister, who was also a UTME candidate.
With the overwhelming evidence presented to him, Chinedu became pensive and remorseful. He pleaded guilty to the crime and turned to his father, who had previously vehemently denied any wrongdoing on his son's part, apologizing for putting him through such an embarrassing situation.
Chinedu expressed his fear of not being able to secure admission into the desired program, which led him to manipulate his JAMB result. He admitted to having learned his lesson and regretted his actions, stating that in 2021, he decided to give up on pursuing medicine and surgery and opted for petroleum engineering. However, when he received the result, it was not as expected. In order to convince JAMB to reschedule another examination for him, he used his sister's phone number saved as '55019' to send himself a fabricated result with a score of 380.
Chinedu had previously attempted the UTME exams in 2019, 2020, and 2021, with the intention of studying medicine and surgery at the University of Ibadan.
His lawyer, taken aback by Chinedu's confession, expressed shock and embarrassment at his client's behavior. The lawyer admitted that he had repeatedly questioned Chinedu, but was deceived by his lies. This turn of events further reinforced the lawyer's belief in the credibility of JAMB as an institution and praised Prof. Oloyede for his integrity. Nevertheless, the lawyer pleaded for mercy on behalf of his client.
