By Nicholas Ojo
The House of Representatives, is set to investigate allegations of manipulation of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result levelled against Anambra State candidate, Ejikeme Mmesoma.
The lower chamber of the National Assembly, on Wednesday said it will set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the allegation.
The committee would begin probe on the sundry allegations against the schoolgirl by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
JAMB had barred Ejikeme for three years over alleged forgery of UTME results.
In a statement made available by the Board’s spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB insisted that only Mmesoma paraded an “obsolete” notification slip out of all the candidates that sat the 2023 UTME.
“In the meantime, the management of the Board, after considering the weighty infraction committed by Ms. Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, and in line with its established procedures, has withdrawn her 2023 UTME result and also barred her from sitting the Board’s examination for the next three years.”
The Anambra State government also set up an eight-member committee of enquiry to investigate the allegations against Mmesoma Ejikeme.
The state government, however, faulted the way JAMB has handled the situation which had become a major controversy in the country, with people taking sides.
The state government faulted JAMB for going on social media to describe Mmesoma’s result as fake while an investigation into the matter was still ongoing.
In a statement issued to journalists on Wednesday, the state information commissioner, Paul Nwosu, had said the new committee would be chaired by Prof. Nkemdili Nnonyelu.
The statement had read, “The Anambra State Government has, for obvious reasons, been following the JAMB/Mmesoma Ejike matter with keen interest.
“It is important to note that Miss Mmesoma Ejike went to the office of the Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh with her UTME result to protest that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board didn’t recognise her as the candidate with the highest score.
“The Commissioner in turn called JAMB to confirm her claim, but she was told that Mmesoma’s result was forged.”
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