ROMANUS EJIKEME, father of Mmesoma, the 19-year-old student who forged her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result has apologized to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
In May, Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, Anambra State, gained popularity after she claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME.
However, JAMB alleged that Mmesoma manipulated her result to “deceive the public to fraudulently obtain a scholarship and other recognitions”.
The examination body said she scored 249, not 362 as she claimed.
Mr Ejikeme had lend massive support for his daughter, claiming at the time that JAMB gave her “result to another person and they are still intimidating her”.
Thereafter, the Anambra State government set up a panel of inquiry to look into the matter.
In an interview with NTA, Mr Ejikeme said his daughter did not open up to him on time about what she did.
“My daughter didn’t open up to me on time. She didn’t,” he said.
“When I realised the mistake she did, I blamed her a lot that she was not supposed to do such. Every day, I tell her don’t dent your image because you are a star.
“As a father, I’m still apologizing to JAMB and Nigerians to pardon her.”
Meanwhile, JAMB had barred Mmesoma from sitting for the exam for three years due to the “weighty infractions”
The three million naira scholarship awarded to Mmesoma by Innoson Motors has since been withdrawn by the company.
Eighteen-Eleven Media