Mr Romanus Ejikeme, father of the student who manipulated her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result, has said his daughter didn’t confess her “crime” to him on time and has tendered an apology to Nigerians and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Gatekeepers News reports that Ejikeme, who had accused JAMB of discrimination and threatened to sue the board, said he did not know that his daughter lied to him.
In an interview with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) on Saturday, Romanus said he regretted his utterances in the heat of the controversy.
He said, “As I said earlier, my daughter didn’t open up to me on time. When I realised the mistake that she made, I blamed her.
“I tell her every day to be careful not to dent her image as a star. I apologise to JAMB and Nigerians to pardon her.” he said.
Anambra State Government had set up an eight- member committee of Inquiry to thoroughly investigate the controversy around the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Result (UTME) results of Ejikeme Mmesoma submitted its findings to the state government.
The examination body, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board had described the result as fake, adding its internal investigation revealed that it was done with Mmesoma’s collaboration.
The state government, however, faulted the way JAMB has handled the situation which has 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, the state information commissioner, Paul Nwosu, said the new committee would be chaired by Prof. Nkemdili Nnonyelu.
The committee included Prof. Mercy Okonkwo, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, Prof. Maduabuchi Dukor, Prof. Jaja Nwanegbo, Rev. Sr. Prof. Mary-Felicia Opara, Rev. Cannon Dr. Uchenna Umeifekwem, Mr. Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Managing Director, Anambra Information Communication Technology Agency.
In the committee report, the panel wrote that “Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma admitted that she manipulated the fake results herself, using her phone.”
The committee also recommended that the schoolgirl tender an apology to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The state Commissioner for Information, Paul Nwosu, confirmed the submission of the panel’s report in a release on Friday.
He said, “The Committee of Inquiry set up by the Government of Anambra State to thoroughly investigate the JAMB/Mmesoma’s matter has submitted its report”
Gatekeepers reported that JAMB had last Sunday accused Mmesoma of manually inflating her 2023 UTME result from 249 to 362 and went ahead to obtain a scholarship from Innoson which has now been withdrawn.
