The management of Innoson Automobile Company, has said the N3 million scholarship awarded to Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme will stand if found to be innocent of the allegation by JAMB of result manipulation.
Mr Cornel Osigwe, Head of Corporate Communications at Innoson Group, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Onitsha that it was strange to hear from JAMB that Ejikeme manipulated her result.
According to him, “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.
“When it was claimed that she was the highest, we waited for JAMB to come and clarify it, but they did not and the media was publishing that she was the highest.
“We also waited to see if there was going to be a counterclaim, but since there was no counterclaim, we awarded her the scholarship as the highest scorer.
“On Sunday, it was reported that JAMB claimed that she manipulated her result. We are doing our independent investigation as we speak to know if she actually manipulated her result or if the fault was from JAMB. If we find out that the girl actually manipulated her result for obvious reasons, we will withdraw the scholarship.
“But if we find out that the mistake was actually from JAMB; that they were the ones that awarded her the score, or probably did a review and found out that her actual score was 249, then our scholarship will still stand.”
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), had accused Ejikeme of using a software to manipulate her score to 362 as against 249.
Osigwe advised Ejikeme not to panic during this period of investigation, saying that they have the capacity to carry out proper investigation to unravel the truth.
He further stressed that if they find out that she is innocent of the allegation, whether she scored the highest or not, the scholarship will still stand.
(NAN)