The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it handed over a 19-year-old candidate in the 2021-2022 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME) to the police for investigation over what it described as “result tampering”.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, said the candidate, Chinedu John, had claimed he scored 380 in the examination conducted in June but was surprised to receive 265 from the board after the results were released.
He said following alleged “alteration” of his UTME score, the candidate’s father, John Ifenkpam, approached an Enugu-based lawyer, Ikeazor Akaiwe, who wrote to JAMB for another opportunity for the boy to retake the examination and demanded N1 billion as damages.
Oliyede said the lawyer said the N1 billion was to cover for the physical and emotional trauma the boy had been through from being offered “two separate scores”.
The candidate was said to have claimed that his UTME scores from 2019 till 2021 had been “altered” by the board, thereby denying him the opportunity to study his desired course, Medicine.
On Friday, the candidate, his father and lawyer travelled to Abuja from Enugu State following an invitation by the management of the board.
Oloyede said initially, the boy was given a few minutes to “come clean” in a closed session with his father and lawyers about the results he was parading but insisted that his original score from the examination was 380.
“However, the board tendered evidence to counter the claim by John and his legal representative.”
He said at the Friday meeting, documentary evidence tendered by the board showed that John actually scored 265 and not the 380 he had claimed.
Oloyede accused the candidate of alteration, adding that he will be handed over to the police for investigation and subsequently prosecuted.
The registrar said John was among 11 other candidates who allegedly forged their results that the board would prosecute.
Oloyede said the original result issued to the candidate would be withdrawn pending investigation.
“We have 11 of them who tampered with their results. Two of them are already being prosecuted. The remaining ones we are going to withdraw their results and prosecute them. The main purpose is to sanitise the system, including our own staff,” he said.
“There was never any communication of 380 with this boy. Because this boy has accused JAMB, we are going to withhold his result until the investigation is concluded. We are going to request that our interactions with him be subjected to the public.”
The candidate’s lawyer, Ikeazor, appealed to the board to instead give room for further investigation.
“I will not stand against investigation. Let there be investigation but what I will not agree to is to prejudge him,” he said.
