CITIZENS COMPASS – Mmesoma Ejikeme, the teenage girl who allegedly forged her 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result to earn high scores  has apologised to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

She tendered a letter of apology before an investigation panel of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Recall that the House had constituted an Ad-hoc Committee led by Sada Soli Jibia (APC, Katsina) to investigate the issue after a motion on the matter was moved by Awaji-Inombek Abiante (PDP: Bayelsa).

The committee invited the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Mmesoma, and her parents to the sitting.

Mmesoma attended the hearing alongside her father and her lawyer where she read the letter apologizing to the examination body over her malfeasance.

In the letter, the girl as she had earlier stated, admitted to having forged the results but said she had regretted her actions.

Earlier, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Oloyede reeled out the circumstances leading to the alleged forgery as well as the measures taken by JAMB including the three years ban placed on Mmesoma.

He said that they are presently investigating eight centers across the nation over the matter, adding that some other candidates who have done similar things have been arrested and four have been remanded in custody pending their appearance in Court.

He told the committee that criminal elements have been hoodwinking Nigerians to bypass the JAMB system which he said was foolproof as it was offline and cannot be accessed.

According to him, the examination body had put in measures to safeguard its systems and was collaborating with security agencies to always fish them out and curb their attempts. 

He regretted that JAMB has been unnecessarily victimized and deprived of fair hearing by some groups and individuals in the case which led to negative perceptions about its operations.