Umeh Nkechinyere, the real 2023 top scorer in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, and Ejikeme Mmesoma, who fraudulently paraded herself as the top scorer in the same examination are both from Anambra State, The PUNCH reports.

Umeh, 16, was declared the top scorer by the board during its 2023 policy meeting, which was held in Abuja on Saturday, June 24, 2023, with an aggregate score of 360.

The PUNCH reports that while Umeh was celebrated by JAMB for being the top scorer, the board chided Ejikeme for parading herself as the top scorer.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the board noted that Ejikeme manually inflated her UTME result from 249 to 362 and used her manually inflated score to attract a N3 million scholarship from Innoson Motors, which was set to be awarded by the Anambra State government before she was exposed.

“The most pathetic of them all is the case of Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME and was awarded a N3m scholarship by Chief (Dr.) Innocent Chukwuma.

“She was even set to be honoured by the Anambra State Government when one of its top officials put a call through to JAMB to confirm her claim only for the Board to reveal that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma had actually scored 249 and not 362 she claimed.

“She had manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public to fraudulently obtain a scholarship and other recognitions,” a statement by JAMB said.

Ejikeme will be prosecuted and have her original result withdrawn by the board.