A panel set up by the governor of Anambra state, Charles Soludo, has indicted Mmesoma Ejikeme for manipulating her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result, which earlier stirred controversy between Nigerians and the examination body.

The panel released an eight-page report explaining their findings after investigating the matter.

The panel had invited Ms Ejikeme, the principal of her school, Anglican Girls Secondary School, Uruagu, Nnewi, and relevant JAMB officials led by the board’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin.

“In Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s submission, she owned up in the presence of her principal and the education secretary that the narration by the JAMB officials was a true and correct description of what transpired,” the panel said.

JAMB officials told the panel the different times that Ms Ejikeme made several requests to the JAMB portal.

She was alleged to have checked the result on the portal four times, with each request returning her UTME results to wit: English: 64, Physics: 54, Biology: 74, Chemistry: 57, with a total aggregate score of 249.

The board officials told the panel that the candidate was well informed of her correct score but sent a request to JAMB with a different registration number showing an aggregate score of 362, with English: 98, Physics: 89, Biology: 94, and Chemistry: 81.

“The results she sent differed substantially from the standard JAMB format where she got an appropriate rebuttal stating her real score of 249,” the panel report said.

It added, “Besides, a number of red flags were also highlighted by JAMB officials showing a different date of birth, different registration number, notification of results template that has been discarded since 2021, amongst others.”

The panel said it was also discovered that the candidate manipulated the name of her examination centre.

“She also admitted to have given a manipulated result by herself unaided, using the same phone Airtel number.

“According to her, she proceeded to the cybercafe (Prisca Global Computers, Uruagu, Nnewi) where she printed the results she had manipulated,” the report stated.

The panel concluded that the JAMB result with an aggregate score of 362 being paraded by Ms Ejikeme was fake, given the variations in the registration number, date of birth, name of the centre and other infractions.

The panel recommended that Ms Ejikeme undergo psychological counselling and therapy following the controversy she stirred up.

The Anambra state governor set up the panel to end the controversy surrounding the candidate’s aggregate score.