The Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial district, Senator Uche Ekwunife, during Wednesday's plenary drew the attention of the Nigerian Senate to a petition written by Barr. Chidi Henry Onyiuke, a constituent of Anambra Central, who on behalf of his 17 years old Son, Master Akachukwu Matthew Onyiuke, brought a petition against the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for their refusal to release Master Onyiuke’s 2019 UTME JAMB result, having released the results of every other candidate who sat for the examination at the same venue in Abuja.
In raising the petition on the floor of the Senate, Ekwunife said:
"Standing on the authority of Rule 41 of the Senate Standing Orders, I rise to draw the attention of the Senate to a petition by Barr. Chidi Henry Onyiuke, a constituent of Anambra Central, who on behalf of his 17 years old Son, Master Akachukwu Matthew Onyiuke is bringing this petition against JAMB, for JAMB’s refusal to release Master Onyiuke’s 2019 UTME JAMB result."
"The reason proffered by JAMB for withholding Master Onyiuke’s result is “invalid entrance into the exam hall”, which JAMB subsequently explained as “unauthorized entrance”. The petitioner on his part, believes that the reason proffered by JAMB is untenable because there is a CCTV footage of the examination which would reveal that Master Onyiuke was lawfully admitted into the Exam CENTRE after completing his biometrics and surrendering himself to a thorough search. The Petitioner believes that JAMB seized his result because he most likely made a very unusually high score in the exam."
"The Petitioner further maintains that Master Akachukwu’s academic pedigree, which includes 9 A1 results in his WAEC exam, and numerous academic excellence awards including 1st Place in the COWBELL Math Competition, corroborate whatever high result he may have obtained in the UTME JAMB exam. He has provided several documents to support his petition."
"The Petitioner has tried several interventions with JAMB in a bid to resolve this matter. All efforts made by the petitioner to resolve this matter has been fruitless. JAMB continues to withhold Master Akachukwu’s result causing him to miss out on several academic opportunities that would have been available to him in various tertiary institutions."
"As a last resort, the Petitioner is now seeking the intervention of the Senate via this petition, to direct JAMB to release Master Onyiuke’s JAMB result to enable him continue with his tertiary education."
"Mr. President, I urge the Senate to look into this matter."
Reacting to the Petition, the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan referred the petition to the Committee on Public Petitions for consideration. The committee was mandated to report to the Senate in one week.
Kingsley Ubani,
Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to Senator Uche Ekwunife.