Former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, has reacted to report of the panel of inquiry set up by the Anambra State Government to investigate the controversies surrounding Mmesoma Ejikeme’s UTME result.
Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, had sat for the UTME in May and came under scrutiny for parading the “highest score” of 362, which JAMB later revealed was manipulated.
A panel of inquiry was later set up by the Anambra State Government and the panel in its final report confirmed that Mmesoma Ejikeme manipulated her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination result, where she actually scored 249 as against 362.
While reacting to the development, Keyamo in a tweet through his official Twitter account on Saturday stated that the nation should not judge Mmesoma, and that she should be counseled and properly guided.
“I deliberately waited for the end of this investigation before commenting on this unfortunate case of our daughter, Mmesoma Ejikeme.
“She’s a brilliant girl, judging by her actual score of 249. The nation should be careful not to destroy her. What she needs is counselling, correction and guidance. She obviously did not know the weight and gravity of what she was doing. As teenagers, most of us made juvenile mistakes that never came to light.
“The parents should encourage her to do a public apology to JAMB, to her family and to Nigerians after which she should be allowed to get her admission based on her actual scores. Anyone still pushing other narratives over this issue is not helping her and her family.
“It is time to close this very unfortunate chapter and move on. This is my plea”, he tweeted.
