Mmesoma has previously insisted she never forged her result.
A Nigerian female school pupil, Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma has admitted she faked her results sheet, ending controversy over whether she got the coveted nationwide top spot in this year’s Joint Administration and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exams.
She had been celebrated after coming forward to say that she had an overall score of 362 in the exams and was the nation’s top achiever.
The row surrounding reached the country’s Green Chambers of the National Assembly, where lawmakers debated the issue and called for panel to investigate the controversy.
Ms Mmesoma, a product of Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, Anambra state, produced what looked like a results printout to prove her case. She was subsequently offered scholarship of 3m naira ($4,000; £3,000) by a local businessman.
But the exam’s authority – JAMB – disputed its authenticity, saying the pupil got 249. It also said that the format of the printout that she had shown was no longer being used and there were a number of other inconsistencies.
Many took the 19-year-old’s side and accused JAMB of trying to cover up glitches on its website that led to it issuing two different results.
Soon, the dispute became a national story and Ms Mmesoma released a video protesting her innocence and saying that she was “traumatised that they accused me of forging my own results”.
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, where Mmesoma hails from, launched an official investigation and according to the BBC, a report from the investigation, signed off last Friday, Ms Mmesoma “admitted to have given a manipulated result by herself unaided. According to her, she proceeded to the cybercafé where she printed the results she had manipulated”. She gave no reason for why she did this.
She was asked to tender a written apology and has been recommended that she undergo counselling.
Meanwhile , JAMB has banned Ms Mmesoma from taking the final exams for the next three years, which will affect her chances of getting into a tertiary school in Nigeria, if upheld.