Romanus Ejikeme, the father of Mmesoma, a 19-year-old student who forged her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result, has apologised 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 — and not 362.
Ejikeme had supported his daughter, claiming that JAMB gave her “result to another person and they are still intimidating her”.
Thereafter, the Anambra government set up a panel of inquiry to look into the matter.
We had reported that following the inquiry, the committee said Mmesoma admitted to faking her result.
In an interview with NTA, Ejikeme said his daughter did not open up to him on time.
“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.
“Everyday, I tell her don’t dent your image because you are a star.
“As a father, I’m still apologising 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”.