Mmesoma: Attorney Ugwuonye calls for immediate resignation of JAMB registrar
3 min read
Emeka Ugwuonye
Harvard trained attorney and founder of Due Process Advocates International, attorney Emeka Ugwuonye, has urged Nigerians to join in the call for the resignation of Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
The call is coming after the examination body in a controversial circumstance on Sunday, announced the withdrawal of Ejikeme’s UTME result over alleged manipulation of her scores.
Several reactions had trailed the abrupt decision of the examination body, with many accusing it of not carrying out thorough investigation before making their pronouncement public.
Also, Mmesoma while speaking over the accusation against her, said she is innocent and denied ever falsifying her scores.
Emeka Ugwuonye in a statement stated that failure of JAMB to understand and explain how a person like Mmesoma Ejikeme could manipulated the scoring system of the examination body shows that JAMB cannot guarantee the basic integrity of the testing and its scoring system.
The human rights lawyer, however noted that failure of JAMB to protect Mmesoma Ejikeme amount to a shocking betrayal of millions of Nigerian children who go through the JAMB testing system.
The statement reads, “DPA invites all well-meaning Nigerians to join in the call for the resignation of the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB).
“What is his offense?
“JAMB admitted that the critical national testing system it runs could be manipulated so easily in ways JAMB cannot understand or explain. Failure to understand and explain how a person like Mmesoma Ejikeme could have manipulated the JAMB scoring system and printing of JAMB scores means that JAMB cannot guarantee the basic integrity of the testing and scoring system. Such a failure is a monumental threat to national security.
“Failure to protect the minor, Mmesoma Ejikeme, is a shocking betrayal of millions of Nigerian children who go through the JAMB testing system. It should be obvious that Miss Ejikeme herself could not have been the one that manipulated her scores, if indeed her scores were manipulated. Even if such manipulation was done by her parents or anyone else, Miss Ejikeme would been a victim of such manipulation. If she were considered a victim, JAMB should have realized the need to protect her from the kind of psychological harm a child could suffer in such a circumstance. However, the manner in which JAMB went about its allegations of manipulation failed to show any concern for the well-being of a minor within its sphere of care.
“Besides the question of whether the result was manipulated or not, it is a very worrisome development that JAMB would fail to protect the vulnerable in circumstances where there are reasons to believe that the candidate affected might not have been complicit in any wrongdoing.
“Millions of Nigerian youths and their parents look up to JAMB each year as the pathway to their future. Also, the country of Nigeria looks up to JAMB each year as the gateway through which its future leaders must pass. To find that JAMB, by its own admission, could not justify the basis trust reposed on it and has failed to guarantee basic integrity of such critical and fateful process, accountability is called for.
“With such glaring incompetence, the current leadership of JAMB should do the honorable thing by resigning. It is a grave danger for the country to continue to trust the agency under its current leadership. We believe that demanding for the resignation of the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of JAMB is a fair demand for accountability and a good lesson to all others who hold office based on public trust.”
