FG may prosecute Ocholi’s driver

The driver of the late Minister of State for Labour, Mr James Ocholi may face prosecution and non-possession of driver’s license.

The driver, James Elegbede, who was behind the wheels when the accident that claimed that lives of the minister, his wife and son, was Wednesday accused of over speeding and not having a driver’s licence by the Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Boboye Oyeyemi, when he presented an interim on the crash that claimed the minister’s life to the Federal Executive Council.

Speaking on the outcome of the report, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir David Lawal, said he could not rule out the possibility of the driver facing prosecution for over speeding and not owning a driver’s license.

The SGF, while speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said the final report on the accident will determine if Elegbede will be prosecuted.

He said: “As to the issue of whether we would prosecute the driver, yes, Nigeria is not short of laws, the problem is that Nigerians find it very difficult to obey the laws.

Read also: Late Ocholi’s driver not licensed to drive

“There is a speed limit in place and so if anybody chooses not to obey the traffic laws, of course, it is subject to prosecution by the agencies concerned. But as to this particular incidence, I think we will leave it until the final report of the investigation comes out.

According to him, the Federal Government did not extend automatic employment and scholarship benefits to the driver’s relative and other surviving victims because they are alive and still on government payroll.

He said: “The government decided to give employment to the children of the late minister because he was the breadwinner and the children are now orphans. On the other hand, the driver survived and the government is taking care of their medical bills at the National Hospital and they are also government workers as some of them are policemen, SSS and others.

“So they are on salary and are treated free, but God forbid that had any of them suffered the same fate as those who died, the President would have willingly included them in the list of beneficiaries,” he stated.

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