UTME fraud: Innoson withdraws N3m Scholarship awarded to Mmesona
Following the report by the Commission of Inquiry established by the Anambra State Government confirming Mmesoma Ejikeme manipulated her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination result, Nigerian automobile manufacturer, Innoson Automobile Company has withdrawn the scholarship offered to her.
Mmesoma had misled the public that she scored 362 in this year’s UTME as against the 249 that she actually scored in the exam.
The company had awarded her scholarship while Anambra State government was planning to honour her before JAMB raised alarm.
In a statement on Saturday, Cornel Osigwe, Head of Corporate Communications at Innoson Vehicles, said the company withdrew the scholarship in response to the outcome of the panel which Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State set up to probe the issue.
The company had initially stood by Mmesoma, with Osigwe saying the candidate he met looked too innocent to do what JAMB accused her of while asking the board to “allow the poor breathe”.
But in his statement on Saturday, Osigwe said the examination body had been vindicated.
“In recent days, we have been involved in the process of investigating allegations surrounding the 2023 UTME examination results of one of our scholarship recipients, Miss Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme. It was reported initially that Miss Joy scored exceptionally high on the exam, a feat that led to her being awarded a scholarship by our company.”
“However, subsequent reports of discrepancies in her UTME score led us to seek clarification from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and to allow her to voice her stance, we engaged in direct dialogue with Miss Joy.
The eight-page report of the panel also recommended that Mmesoma immediately tender an unreserved written apology to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, the school (Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi), and the state government and should undergo psychological counseling and therapy.
The eight-member panel had been set up by the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, on Wednesday to investigate the ongoing controversy between the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and Mmesoma, whose UTME result has come under controversy, with the mandate of making its findings public.
