Father petitions Senate over daughter’s withheld UTME result

A parent, Onyebuchi Obioha, has petitioned the Senate over the non-release of his daughter Chizitere Obioha’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination result.

He alleged that the development was caused by the misconduct of a Joint Admissions Matriculation Board supervisor.

In a petition submitted through a senator, Neda Imasuen, Obioha accused a JAMB supervisor of giving his 16-year-old daughter his phone number after the exam, suggesting inappropriate intentions.

Obioha suspected the supervisor may be responsible for the “examination infraction” listed as the reason for withholding Chizitere’s result.

Obioha challenged JAMB’s claim of malpractice, stating that his daughter was not involved in any wrongdoing.

He requested evidence from JAMB, including a forensic audit of any alleged malpractice form and CCTV footage from the examination centre.

The petition reads in part: “My name is Onyebuchi Obioha, the father of Chizitere Audrey Obioha whose JAMB details are stated below: Name: Audrey Chizitere Obioha; registration number: 202440075547GF; Examination Number: C44208171; Center Number: C44208, seat number, 171.

“She wrote her JAMB examination at Wisdom House CBT Center at Ogba, Lagos, on the 22nd of April 2024 at noon.

“Chizitere Audrey Obioha wrote her JAMB on the 22nd of April 2024 at the above-mentioned centre in Ogba, Lagos and I personally took her to the centre. I dropped her at the centre, and she left her reading materials in the car and joined the line to enter the centre with her exam slip.

“I waited at a nearby shopping plaza until she came out. I asked her how the exam was, and she told me that she did very well.

“When the results were released, we checked and saw that her result was not there but rather Alleged Examination Infraction.”

He said the development caused worries, making them as parents inquire from Chizitere if she was involved in any examination malpractices.

“We were worried and inquired from her if anything happened or if she was involved in any exam concerns and she told us no.

“To this end, we asked a relative who resides in Abuja to visit the JAMB office to see if we would get answers, but the response was that we should open a ticket.

“We promptly opened a ticket on the 30th of April and the ID is #240430-9KYGAD. From the 30th of April, we kept updating the ticket asking for answers but never received any response.”

The petition further stated, “On the 25th of June 2024, we visited the JAMB office Ikoyi and the officers there stated that the ‘Alleged Examination Infraction’ could mean any of the following – caught with materials in the hall, caught cheating with another candidate or caught with a device.

“On the 11th of July 2024, my daughter sat at an interactive session with some JAMB officials where they asked questions and also stated that they had footage of her being caught with a device during the exam.

“My daughter responded that this was not possible as she had no single issue in the hall. They also asked her if she filled a malpractice form to which she responded that she did not.”

The father added, “My daughter did not own a telephone, IPAD or any electronic device and did not take any with her to the exam that day. We have not received any feedback on that session to date.

“Please, we do not want any favours. If my daughter has committed a crime, let the full wrath of the law take its swing. But if she is mistakenly accused, we will appreciate that justice is served.”

He then raised his suspicion, alleging that his daughter was being punished for a crime she did not commit.

“I want to bring to your notice a suspicion that we have, relating to this case. We are very certain that our daughter is being punished for a crime she did not commit.

“When my daughter came out of the hall on that fateful exam day, the 22nd of April 2024, after she told me that the examination was good, she then handed a tiny piece of paper to me and said that a man in the hall gave it to her to call him after the exam.

“In her exact words, the man came around and looked at her name and said that her name was beautiful. He then left and came back almost when she was rounding up and dropped this piece of paper and asked her to call him afterwards. She decided to bring the paper to me,” he said.

The petition added, “I called the number immediately and asked him why he gave a little girl of 16 years his number to call him.

“He immediately denied it and said that it was the wrong number. I checked the paper and told him that it was the number that he had written that I called.

“He cut the line. When we got home, my daughter also told my wife who also placed a call to him and he denied it again and also cut the line.

“I then sent a WhatsApp message the same day in the evening asking him to desist from this and should apologise.

“He did not respond. I have that message. I have also attached it here. The number is 08067366564. I checked Truecaller and the name that popped up was Mutiu Olayemi.”

Responding, Olayemi denied the allegations.

He refuted claims of giving his phone number to any candidate and stated he was in Abuja to respond to JAMB’s inquiries.

Olayemi also denied any involvement in reporting the exam infraction against Chizitere, attributing the report to the Resident Monitor.

“I didn’t ‘toast’ anybody during the examination or give my phone number to any candidate. I’m already in Abuja as directed by JAMB Abuja to defend myself,” he said.

The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions is expected to address the petition in due course.