A former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has called for an independent technology investigation into the controversy surrounding the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result of Mmesoma Ejikeme.
Mmesoma, a candidate from Anambra State, had claimed that she scored 380 in the UTME, but JAMB accused her of forging her result slip and banned her from taking the exam for three years.
Mmesoma denied the allegation and insisted that she printed her result slip from the JAMB portal. She said she was traumatised by JAMB’s claim and demanded an apology.
Ezekwesili, who reached out to JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said listening to Mmesoma’s side of the story showed that it was reasonable to request a forensic investigation to reveal what really happened.
She said she was interested in having a number of questions answered by JAMB, such as the user journey of Mmesoma, the nature of the interface between JAMB system and the centre where she sat for the exam, and whether this kind of double-result was unique to her or experienced by other candidates.
She said an independent technology investigation was critical for helping to know the truth of the case and the role of all the parties involved, so that the right and just redress could be made.
She also said trust in public institutions like JAMB that record the facts of individual effort and performance was key for the country and that this matter should be resolved appropriately.
