Amidst the ongoing controversy triggered by the result manipulation scandal revolving around the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) involving the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and a 19-year-old candidate, Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme, who proclaimed herself as the highest achiever for 2023, the Economic Confidential Magazine has unearthed the identities of the most accomplished test-takers in the placement examination in the previous ten years.
According to LEADERSHIP, JAMB accused Mmesoma of falsifying her 2023 UTME result to gain undue advantage from the public.
Coincidentally, while Mmesoma, who allegedly presents herself as the foremost scorer, resides in Anambra State, the actual 2023 JAMB topper, Umeh Nkechinyere, with a cumulative score of 360, hails from the same State.
Meanwhile, after scrutinizing JAMB results from 2013 to 2022, the Economic Confidential Magazine has compiled a list of 56 UTME candidates in the past decade who achieved an average score of 290 or higher.
In selecting the top five candidates each year, the economic intelligence magazine clarified that some students obtained identical marks, resulting in a tie for the same position within the first to fifth spots.
Out of the 56 highest scorers in the past 10 years, 16 students scored between 290-339, while 40 candidates achieved scores ranging from 340-363.
In both 2013 and 2014, no candidate attained a score of 300, as the highest mark during those years was 299.
Economic Confidential further ascertained that only four candidates achieved scores above 360 in the past decade.
Among them was Maduafokwa Agnes, a native of Anambra State, who became the top-ranking UTME candidate by scoring 365 in 2020. Following closely was Galadima Zakari from Borno State, who emerged as the overall best candidate in the 2018 UTME with a score of 364.
The third position in the past decade was secured by another native of Anambra State, Master David Okwuchukwu Nwobi, who ranked second in terms of score in 2020 with 363. Adebayo Eyimofe from Ekiti State, with a score of 362, emerged as the candidate with the highest UTME score in 2022, placing fourth amongst the top scorers in the previous ten years.
Economic Confidential discovered that out of the 56 outstanding candidates, 71% were male students, while 29% were female students.