Mmesoma Ejikeme, the 19-year-old candidate involved in the UTME result forgery, has appealed to the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, to review the three years ban placed on her.
Miss Ejikeme made the appeal on Wednesday during the investigative hearing organised by the ad hoc committee mandated by the House of Representatives to probe the forgery allegation against her.
JAMB had accused Miss Ejikeme of manipulating her UTME results by inflating her score from 249 to 362.
But the candidate insisted that the 362 was the score she received both on the JAMB website and in the SMS sent to her by the board.
The examination body subsequently announced it would withdraw the candidate’s original UTME result and barred her from taking the test for the next three years.
However, she subsequently admitted forging her scores during an investigation by an eight-member panel set up by Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State. The panel discovered that Miss Ejikeme indeed forged the result.
Amidst the controversy, the House waded into the saga by setting up a committee to investigate the matter. The House urged JAMB to suspend any punitive measure against the candidate pending the conclusion of the investigation by the House.
Miss Ejikeme appeared before the Committee along with her father and lawyer to give her testimony.
Donning a yellow dress, she read a prepared letter addressed to the JAMB Registrar. In the letter, she admitted to have committed the forgery, blaming “ignorance” for her action.
She appealed to Mr Oloyede to temper justice with mercy by reducing the punishment given to her by the Board.
“I strongly seek your forgiveness for the mistake I made,” she said, adding that “Words alone cannot describe the pain feel for letting you down. This is the first time in my life and academic journey that I will be accused of wrongdoing.”
Following her presentation, Miss Ejikeme and her father were allowed to leave to catch a flight.
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