Cast UTME Outcome: Does JAMB have the facility to sanction Mmesoma?

When on 2 July the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in a press release accused a candidate who sat its 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Mmessoma Ejikeme, of forging its end result, many Nigerians doubted the examination physique’s declare.

Miss Ejikeme had flaunted a rating of 362 on social media, out of the 400 marks obtainable. She additionally offered herself as the most effective candidate within the examination.

The declare by the 19-year-old scholar of the Anglican Women Secondary Faculty (AGSS), Nnewi, Anambra State, south-east Nigeria, attracted extensive applause and commendation as each people, company our bodies and the Anambra State Authorities introduced varied rewards for her.

JAMB mentioned the candidate scored 249 in its examination and gave the identification of the most effective candidate as Umeh Ikechinyere, who it mentioned scored 360.

Nonetheless, each Miss Ejikeme and her father, Romanus Ejikeme, for some days, maintained their stance on the 362 and accused the examination physique of insincerity.

Apparently, on account of the endemic tradition of mistrust in Nigeria’s public establishments, many Nigerians believed the examination physique was insincere in its verdict.

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The matter additional degenerated when on 4 July, JAMB introduced the withdrawal of the candidate’s actual rating of 249 and barred her from taking its examination for the following three years.

Many commentators, particularly on social media, accused JAMB of being the decide in its personal courtroom, querying the place the examination physique derived the facility to wield such a giant stick.

However following the intervention by the Anambra State Authorities, the candidate, in an abrupt method, made a U-turn and admitted to forging the end result. She confessed earlier than a committee arrange by the federal government to research the matter.

In the meantime, a assessment of the regulation establishing JAMB confirmed the company’s dos and don’ts, and the way and when its disciplinary energy could be invoked.

What JAMB Act states

Right here’s what we discovered within the JAMB Act and the Examinations Malpractice Act (1999).

JAMB’s establishing regulation granted the company the accountability of conducting matriculation examinations for entry into all universities, polytechnics and schools of schooling in Nigeria.

In direction of reaching the acknowledged goal, JAMB launched UTME, which was previously often known as the College Matriculation Examination (UME).

The identify change turned crucial when the examination physique merged its UTME with its Polytechnic and Faculties of Training (PCE) Examination- the same entrance examination that was carried out for candidates in search of admission into the polytechnics and schools of schooling.

The board additionally has the powers to, based on the JAMB Decree amended in 1989, “appoint examiners, moderators, invigilators, members of the topic panels and committees and different individuals with respect to matriculation examinations and some other issues incidental thereto or linked therewith.”

However the regulation was silent on sanctions that may or ought to be taken towards candidates, officers or examination centres that help examination malpractice.

What Examination Malpractice Act says

In the meantime, the Nigeria Examination Malpractice Act (1999) grants examination our bodies like JAMB, the facility to withhold, cancel or droop a candidate’s end result, an examination official or an examination centre.

Part 16(1a) of the Act states that “however the provisions of this Act, an examination physique shall have the facility to (a) withhold, droop or cancel the outcomes of a candidate or ban or blacklist a candidate from taking its examinations whether it is glad that the candidate has engaged in any type of examination malpractice.

“(b) withdraw recognition, droop, ban or blacklist or place on probation a college or an examination centre whether it is glad that the college or examination centre is concerned in any type of examination malpractice.

“(c) take away the identify of, or withhold fee to a supervisor or an invigilator or some other official employed within the conduct of an examination whether it is glad that the supervisor or invigilator or official has contributed to an examination malpractice.

Part 16(2) of the Act added that the examination physique can even flow into the identify of “an offending candidate, supervisor, invigilator, official, college or examination centre to different examination our bodies which can impose comparable punishment.”

Candidate apologises

Earlier, the daddy of the indicted candidate, Mr Ejikeme, apologised to JAMB and Nigerians on behalf of the household, at the same time as he expressed remorse over his daughter’s conduct.

However on Wednesday, Miss Mmesoma, who appeared earlier than an adhoc committee of the Home of Representatives on the Nationwide Meeting, additionally apologised to the examination physique and pleaded for mercy.

Miss Mmesoma, who learn her letter addressed to the Registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, earlier than the committee, mentioned it was her first time participating in such an ignoble act and pleaded for forgiveness.

However some Nigerians have mentioned her apology mustn’t cease the 19-year-old from being punished, saying she shouldn’t be allowed to go scot-free for the deception and embarrassment induced Nigeria and the examination physique, particularly.

In her suggestion, Kemi Asekun, a journalist, mentioned placing the candidate behind bars would additional harden her as an alternative of the “reform she deserves.”

She mentioned to function deterrence, Miss Mmesoma ought to be made to interact in neighborhood service as punishment, and that the service ought to be publicly recorded to discourage others.

She mentioned: “That is the place I feel the reform of our legal guidelines turns into essential. For such crimes at that age, it is not going to be advisable to ship her to detention or jail because the case could also be however it should even be honest to let her serve the neighborhood as deterrence.

“For example, I’ll like to see her sweeping a public market in Nnewi for weeks and ladies throwing her brooms to comb their retailers as a type of punishment. This ought to be recorded and made public for Nigerians to see.”

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Instances in partnership with Report for the World, which matches native newsrooms with proficient rising journalists to report on under-covered points across the globe.