Fec To Hold Special Session For Ocholi, As Family Suspect Foulplay

SAN FRANCISCO, March 08, (THEWILL) – The Federal Executive Council will on Wednesday hold a special session to pay tribute to the late James Ocholi, the former Minister of of State for Labour

This was revealed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in an interaction with State House correspondents where he added that the deceased, being an active member of the council, would be given his due tribute at the special session.

“You can feel the soberness in the atmosphere. Everybody believes that this is a terrible tragedy,” he said.

He revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari, shocked by Ocholi's sudden death, had described the accident that claimed his life and those of two other members of his family as a tragedy of monumental proportion.

Meanwhile, the family of the Late Ocholi have asked that the driver involved in the accident which claimed Ocholi, his wife and son, be investigated.

The family wondered how the driver of a car that somersaulted several times would be conscious and take photographs of the deceased and upload them on social media insisting that the driver and the orderly should have cordoned off the place and evacuated the corpses as this had been the tradition whenever a VIP was involved in an accident.

According to Abdallah Aliu, Ocholi's uncle, whoever recruited the driver and posted him should be investigated. “It can happen to anybody, it can happen to any minister. It can happen because it has happened.

“So, we want to know who recruited the driver, and at what speed (he was during the trip) to the extent that the corpse of the deceased cannot even be recognized. Can you imagine that? I am worried, it is worrisome.”

The Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, while responding to the call by the relatives of the deceased promised that the deaths would be looked into.

“The acting Permanent Secretary is here, she is the one in charge of human resources. We will find out and investigate it. We will do, but I can tell you that our personal drivers are known to us and we both keep our personal drivers. We will find out and investigate this,” Ngige said.

Also, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has said the agency does not recruit drivers for governors, ministers or other senior government officials declaring that the officials were responsible for their convoy drivers.

Oyeyemi, while responding to questions on the auto crash stated that the FRSC had been training the drivers of top government officials.

He explained that investigation into the crash was ongoing, noting that the report would be ready in 72 hours and warned motorists to stop the purchase of expired tyres, which, he said, contributed to road crashes.

Story by David Oputah