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The management of Innoson Automobile Company says the ₦3 million scholarship awarded to Mmesoma Ejikeme, would be withdrawn if the student is found guilty of the allegation by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The automobile company had recently awarded the scholarship after Ejikeme purportedly emerged as the candidate with the highest score in the 2023 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Ejikeme claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME, and was recently awarded a ₦3 million scholarship by Innocent Chukwuma, Chairman of Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing company.
But on Sunday, July 2, 2023, JAMB accused the candidate of manipulating her UTME result.
The Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said, Ejikeme “manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public and fraudulently obtained scholarship and other recognitions.”
According to the exam body, Ejikeme actually scored 249 and not 362.
Reacting to the development, Cornel Osigwe, Head of Corporate Communications at Innoson Group, told Pulse that the company is conducting an investigation to unravel the truth of the matter.
Osigwe said if the student is found guilty, Innoson Motors would withdraw the ₦3 million scholarship.
“We’re doing our independent investigation on the issue of manipulation, if we found that the girl in question willfully manipulated her result, we shall withdraw the scholarship, but if we observe she is innocent of the accusation, then the scholarship stands, whether she is the best or not,” Osigwe said.
However, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, Osigwe said, "It is strange to us because we did our independent verification and found out that Mmesoma Ejikeme actually scored 362, when we printed her result."
He added that when Ejikeme made the claim that she had the highest score in the 2023 UTME, the company waited for JAMB to confirm it before awarding the scholarship, but the exam body failed to do so.