In a recent development, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has taken the decision to withdraw the result of Mmesoma Ejikeme, a candidate in the recently released Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result. The withdrawal comes in light of alleged manipulation of her scores.

Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the Head of Public Affairs and Protocol at JAMB, issued a statement on Sunday in Abuja, providing details of the situation.

It should be noted that Ejikeme had initially claimed to have achieved a remarkable score of 362 in the 2023 UTME, which had garnered significant attention. Subsequently, she was awarded a scholarship worth N3 million by Innocent Chukwuma, the Chairman of Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing company.

Dr. Benjamin revealed that a number of candidates who participated in the 2023 UTME had resorted to presenting counterfeit scores as a means to gain unfair advantages.

He highlighted another case involving Atung Gerald in Kaduna, who allegedly declared a score of 380. JAMB has cautioned the public against falling victim to the deceptive actions of such candidates.

The attention of JAMB has been drawn to several publications in both print and online media celebrating certain candidates for scoring high in the 2023 UTME.

”The Board is constrained to set the records straight and wishes to state unequivocally that many of the results which many of these candidates are parading are fake.

”In many instances, some of these candidates had actually obtained far lower scores than they are claiming and had used some funny software packages to manipulate their results to deceive unsuspecting members of the public.

”The most pathetic of them all is the case of Miss Ejikeme, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME and was awarded a N3m scholarship by Chukwuma,” he said.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State expressed his admiration for President Bola Tinubu's decision to sign the Student Loan Bill into law.

The commendation came during the 26th Convocation and 40th Anniversary of Lagos State University (LASU) in Ojo.

On June 12, President Tinubu signed the Student Loan Bill, establishing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. This fund will provide interest-free loans to financially disadvantaged Nigerian youths, offering them opportunities to pursue higher education.

President Tinubu emphasized that the bill would open doors for underprivileged children to fulfill their aspirations of obtaining a tertiary education. Governor Sanwo-Olu urged all Nigerians, particularly the intended beneficiaries, to embrace this opportunity with sincerity.

The governor highlighted the Lagos state government's commitment to supporting students in public tertiary institutions within the state. The government aims to help students discover their talents, harness their potential, and strive for excellence, entrepreneurship, and self-sufficiency.

”As a government, we are not unaware that university operations is service-oriented and as such, the need to continually improve on quality benchmarks is a continuum.

”Very importantly, we are also not unaware that sustaining an effective university that can compete favourably on a global stage requires huge financial investments.

”While we are committed to the aspirations of the founding fathers of the institution, we are resolved to surpass the gains of yesterday by setting a new narrative for the institution.