Osita Chidoka, a former minister of aviation, has asked Anambra State schoolgirl Mmesoma Ejikeme, a 2023 UTME contender, to be transparent about how she came by her score.
Chidoka, who is also the proprietor of the Computer-Based Testing (CBT) Center where Mmesoma took her exam, declared that if the applicant is truthful, he or she will be granted leniency by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
“For Nmesoma, she need to be honest and reveal how she arrived at that conclusion and who directed her in that direction. If she accomplishes that, I’ll join the chorus of those pleading with JAMB to take her age into account and be more forgiving, the ex-minister said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mmesoma said that she received a score of 362, while JAMB stated that her true score is 249.
Chidoka said in his statement on Wednesday that he noticed two warning signs when he looked at the candidate’s online results.
“First, as of 2021, the JAMB portal no longer refers to our center as the Thomas Chidoka Center for Human Development. The Thomas Chidoka Center for Human Development is the actual name on the JAMB webpage and Main Examination Slip, not Nkemefuna Foundation.My doubts regarding the validity of her (Nmesoma) score were sparked by the fact that Thomas Chidoka was absent from the Nkemefuna Foundation, which was listed on her Main Examination slip.
“The result template was the second cautionary sign. Those who recently took the test at our center had different result slip templates with the candidate’s passport photo, JAMB watermarks, and no indication of the test location, according to a brief inspection of some of those who took the test there.
“I waited to see if the young Mmesoma would explain how she arrived at the result, which is plainly not the outcome template that Jamb utilized in 2023. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. The former minister said, adding that his center has been participating with the JAMB CBT exam since 2016, “I knew it was phony.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he said, should act like JAMB and explain the “technical glitch” the commission experienced in the February 25, 2023 presidential election. He praised JAMB for speaking out “forcefully” to protect its integrity.