The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been urged to be “accountable” to Nigerians in the same way that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) handled the case of Mmesoma Ejikeme, a 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate accused of result forgery. Osita Chidoka, a former minister of aviation, made the request.
Chidoka, the owner of the Computer-Based Testing (CBT) Centre where Mmesoma took her exam and a supporter of former vice president and PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, said he will ask JAMB for forgiveness if the candidate is honest about the source of her results. Mmesoma claimed to have received a score of 362, but JAMB insisted that it was actually 249.
Chidoka claimed in his statement on Wednesday that he noticed two warning signs when he looked at the candidate’s online results.
He praised JAMB for speaking out “forcefully” in support of its integrity.
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The former minister stated: “JAMB’s reaction and responsiveness should be made a minimum benchmark for government agencies,” the ex-minister said. “Our universities should write case studies of this saga so other institutions can learn how to navigate social media and information management in the face of unrelenting attacks.”
“JAMB’s response is an example to follow. If INEC leadership has any sense of shame and any shred of integrity, they should save President Tinubu from a needless legitimacy question by behaving like JAMB.
Chidoka demanded that INEC clarify the “technical glitch” that occurred during the electronic transfer of election results.
“They should step forward and explain what technical glitch they had on election day that marred the upload of form EC8As from polling units across the country.
“They should share with the public the interaction between the BVAS sim cards and their servers. They should share the audit report of their servers during the failed upload.”
