Governor Soludo awards scholarship to UTME top scorer, Nkechinyere Umeh

Anambra state governor, Charles Soludo has awarded a scholarship to Nkechinyere Umeh, the top scorer in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Soludo in a statement congratulated Miss Umeh, an indigene of Anambra State, for making the state proud with her exceptional performance in the UTME.

Umeh, 16 years old, is a student of Deeper Life High School, Mowe, Ogun State, emerged as UTME’s top scorer with 360.

She hails from Amichi, a community in Nnewi South Local government Area of Anambra State.

The development came days after Ejikeme Mmesoma, a student of the Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, confirmed that she forged her UTME scores.

Mmesoma had, in May 2023, claimed to be the top scorer in the 2023 UTME with 362.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) accused the candidate of manipulating her UTME results and inflating the scores from 249 to 362, an accusation she later confessed to.

Governor Soludo described the scholarship to Umeh as well-deserved, pointing out that the gesture would enable the candidate to study any course of her choice at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) in Anambra State.

COOU is a public university owned by the Anambra State Government.

“The scholarship will not only serve as a token of the state government’s appreciation for her, ” but also give her “the opportunity to pursue her dreams and contribute to the development of the state in the future,” the governor said.