Ejikeme Mmesoma, a girl at the Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, Anambra State, who was charged with falsifying her UTME score, has spoken up.
The student, whose 362 score was widely reported as the highest for the UTME in 2023, actually achieved 249 on the test, according to a statement from JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin on Sunday.
Benjamin had claimed that the student had changed the initial outcome to win favor.
He then said that Mmesoma would be prosecuted and that the result would be revoked.
Speaking on Monday, however, the student claimed that she had printed her score from the JAMB portal and added that she was unable to falsify her score.
She said that she had always been a superb student who had earned the top spot starting in primary school.
Mmesoma said that the Department of State Services (DSS) invited her to the location where her statement was obtained and informed her that an inquiry was ongoing.
She added that “there must be problem somewhere” after feeling traumatized by the occurrence.
“I am the result’s owner. I requested to print this result through the JAMB portal, and I received it there. This is what came of it. This is therefore my total: 362. I printed it exactly as this. I am traumatized that they accused me of fabricating my own findings because I am not capable of doing this, yet they are now stating that I did.
“They scanned the QR code and said it revealed a different name (Omotola Afolabi 138), and when they checked again, the same individual who received 138 now received 338, indicating that there is a problem somewhere.
“Last Friday, my principal and I visited the office of the commissioner of education. We showed the commissioner of education the results, and she took a picture and forwarded it to the JAMB officials. They called back and said the outcome was faked. The DSS was invited to their office by them. We were taken to the DSS’s office where we gave our statement. They promised to get in touch with us after looking into the source of the outcome.
“Instead of waiting for the investigation to be finished, they posted that I had falsified my results without providing any evidence. Really, I am. Since kindergarten, I had always taken first. I received a common admission score of above 300. I’m a smart young lady. I am not illiterate and would not falsify results.
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