Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari over the death of the Minister of State for Labour, Barrister James Ocholi.
The Minister in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media Abubakar Sani, said he received with shock and deep sense of loss, the news of the Minister’s death adding that more saddening was the fact that he died along with his wife and son in the fatal car crash which occurred along the Abuja – Kaduna road on Sunday.
Bello described Ocholi as an exceptional team player and a loyalist to the core, stressing that his commitment to President Muhammadu Buhari’s change agenda was unwavering and that he remained passionate about it until his last breath.
The Minister called on the President to take solace in the fact that Ocholi died while working assiduously to actualize his dream of a better Nigeria, championed by this administration.
The Minister said that Nigeria will miss the late Minister’s contributions to national development which he demonstrated during his short but memorable stay in office.
Muhammad Bello advised the people of Kogi state to accept Ocholi’s demise as a thing destined by God even as he prayed that his soul should rest in peace.

Meanwhile, the driver of the Sport Utility Vehicle which conveyed the Minister yesterday is said to have also died bringing the number of deaths in the fatal accident to five.

This is even as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi on has said that the commission has began full investigation into the causes of the crash of the car of the late Minister of Labour and productivity to determine what led to the ghastly crash in order to prevent future occurrence,

The FRSC also commiserates with President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the Federal Executive Council and the immediate family of Barrister James Eneojo Ocholi on the death of the Minister on the Kaduna- Abuja road.

According to Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy of the corps in a statement in Abuja said  Oyeyemi said that the death of the Minister in the crash was a tragic incident that has challenged FRSC to step up its campaigns against carnage, saying he was personally touched and would work with relevant stakeholders to develop appropriate strategies that could address future occurrences.

“The crash occurred at about 1500hrs and involved two vehicles: one Toyota Lexus LX570 car and a backup car. Three lives were lost in the incident. While the Minister and his son died instantly, the wife later died at the Doka Hospital near Kaduna.”

The Corps Marshal said that as soon as the crash occurred, FRSC rescue teams were mobilized from the Ambulance Point and Unit Command at Doka and Kateri respectively to the scene where they carried out the rescue activities. He pointed out that the corpses were conveyed to the National Hospital Abuja by personnel of the FRSC where they were deposited.

On the cause of the crash, Oyeyemi disclosed that preliminary investigation into the cause indicated that the crash was due to tyre burst, which led to loss of control and somersaulting of the vehicle. He added however that he has ordered full investigation into the crash to be carried out by FRSC Accident Investigation Team.

“I have already ordered full investigation into the causes of the crash to determine what led to the ghastly crash in order to prevent future occurrence,” he stated.

Meanwhile the Corps Marshal has disclosed that with the unfortunate incident, FRSC is more determined to work with the Executive and members of the National Assembly as well as other relevant stakeholders to workout appropriate modalities for ensuring crash-free roads, saying training and retraining of government drivers is part of the immediate measures being taken by the FRSC to avert convoy crashes in the country.

He noted that when FRSC trained the drivers of the Governors’ convoy, the benefits in terms of improved driving culture became immediately noticeable, saying the Corps would be working with members of the Federal Executive Council to put some measures in place, including re-training of their drivers to avoid convoy crashes.

“We are working with the Minister of Works, Power and Housing to install traffic signs at some strategic points along the highways. We are equally committed to working with the National Assembly to step up advocacy and enforcement strategies to curtail issues of speed violation and promotion of use of seatbelt,” Oyeyemi stated. [myad]

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said that even if the State is invaded by one million armed men of the Department of State Services (DSS) on the orders of President Mohammadu Buhari, the government and the people of the State will never be intimidated to surrender governance of the State to political desperadoes, whose four-year reign destroyed the economy of the State.
The governor, who said the DSS under President Buhari is operating beyond its constitutional mandate, added: “the government of Ekiti State may have to reconsider the usefulness of men of the DSS in the government house and other institutions of the State government.”
In a statement by the Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said that the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government is pursuing a clandestine agenda of truncating democracy in Ekiti State and other Peoples Democratic Party controlled States like Rivers and Bayelsa.
“If Buhari likes, let him relocate all DSS men in Nigeria with the entire ammunitions in their armoury to Ekiti, the will of Ekiti people can never be broken. They will only try, and like they have always done, they will fail because dictatorship has never triumphed over the people. Even Buhari’s dictatorship between 1984 and 1985 ended one day and Nigerians will also outlive his present dictatorship.”
The governor said that the DSS under Buhari’s kinsman, Lawal Daura, has abandoned its core mandate of providing intelligence for the protection of the internal security of Nigeria as provided in the Security Agencies Act Cap. N74 LFN, 2004 adding: “Instead of
assisting the Police, Military and other security agencies with classified matters, we now have a DSS that is running after perceived opponents of the president, arresting goat and fowl thieves as well as husbands who assaulted their wives.
“If the DSS was alive to its responsibilities, we won’t be having Boko Haram insurgents killing Nigerians, all these kidnappings and Fulani Herdsmen killings, raping and destroying farmlands in the South-West, South-East and North-Central zones in the country would have been nipped in the bud.”
Fayose said the same way President Buhari used the National Security Organisation, headed by Ambassador Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi from Katsina State, is the same way the President is using the DSS, headed by another of his kinsman, Lawal Daura, to harass, oppress and intimidate Nigerians.
“It is obvious that democracy in Nigeria is becoming unsafe in the hands of Buhari and his APC and those keeping silent now because of politics may also end up in the belly of this roaring lion that is threatening to consume our democracy.
“Therefore, Nigerians and the international community should take special notice of the use of the DSS and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to muscle opposition.
“As for me, I wish to say once again that I am not among those Nigerians that are afraid of harassment by any agency of the federal government.
“I make bold to state that in the overall interest of democracy and well-being of Nigerians, I will continue to speak my mind on issues bordering on governance in Nigeria. I will not be intimidated!” [myad]

Permanent Secretary in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye described the attitude some insurance firms involved in the Group Life Assurance Scheme of the FCT as callous and insensitive.
Dr. Ajakaiye who held a meeting with representatives of the nine insurance companies involved in the scheme in his office in Abuja, threatened to hand them over to the anti-graft agencies for failing to settle indemnity claims to the several affected staff that are now deceased.
The Permanent Secretary lamented that these insurance firms that have refused to pay claims from 2007 to date are deliberately frustrating the implementation of this laudable policy.
“We made this policy so that we can take care of those they left behind and if we could bring you in as our partners to implement this scheme and then you default in your own area, year after year, for us to be having unpaid claims from 2007 till date, is seriously unacceptable.
“When I received brief on this issue I felt very unhappy. I felt very bad. If there is anything I don’t play with wherever I go, it is staff welfare, especially the welfare of those who are so unfortunate to depart from us.”
Dr. Ajakaiye made it clear that if this is the only thing that he will achieve during his period as a Permanent Secretary in FCT, he would take it to the highest level because it is people’s money and the money must get to the individual families that are supposed to benefit from the money today to change their lives.
The Permanent Secretary therefore gave 30 days deadline to the firms to pay the deceased families or face the full wrath of the law, saying that the era of impunity is gone forever.
Dr. Ajakaiye said that he would go to any length to ensure that these claims are paid, stressing: “the present crop of leadership in the FCTA places high premium on staff welfare and would not tolerate crass lawlessness and misdemeanor from any insurance company.
“We won’t allow you to continue to do whatever you like with this money. This money is already with you and the Administration does not owe you. If this (payment) is not done within the stipulated period, we will write to Mr. President on this matter and be assured that the security agencies including the anti-graft bodies will treat this as economic sabotage.”
The insurance claims which run into several hundreds of millions of Naira have been pending since 2007, a development that has kept the next of kins of the deceased in financial and emotional jeopardy even when the FCTA had long paid the insurance firms their deductible premiums.
Some of the companies involved in the FCT Group Life Assurance scheme include Leadway Assurance, Standard Alliance, Crystal Life, Capital Express, Zenith General Insurance, Intercontinental Life Assurance Company, Wapic Life Assurance, Oceanic Life, Lasco and Goldlink. [myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has described his minister of state for Labour and Productivity, late Barrister James Ocholi, who died along with his wife and a child in a motor accident today, as a key component of the Change Agenda of his government.
In a sympathy message by senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, the President expressed shock and sadness over the death of Barrister Ocholi.
President Buhari described the death of the minister of State as untimely, “regretting that Nigeria has lost a key component of the CHANGE agenda.
“Barrister Ocholi was an accomplished and patriotic Nigerian, who was keen to accept the call to service at a time his country needed him,” President Buhari said, adding that in the few months he had been in office, the late minister of state had already begun to distinguish himself through his commitment and dedication to his portfolio.
The late Ocholi has had a long record of political association with President Buhari.
President Buhari also consoled with the government and people of Kogi State, whom he described as having lost a distinguished and irreplaceable son.
He prayed to God to comfort them and grant them the grace to bear the loss.
“The entire country mourns the loss of this great man, who has sadly left us when we need him most,” he said.
President Buhari has also sent the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engineer, David Babachir to formally convey the news to members of the deceased family as well as parishioners in his place of worship.
The minister died today in an accident near Rijana, along the Kaduna-Abuja Road.
James Ocholi and his son had earlier died instantly in the accident as his wife was rushed to Doka Hospital, in Kaduna, Kaduna state in coma. But the Kaduna State Ministry of Health and Human Services later announced the death of his wife.

Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai also sent a condolence message, wishing the souls of the dead ones a rest in peace.

ABOUT JAMES OCHOLI

James Enojo Ocholi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),was born on 26th November 1960. He hails from Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi state. James Ocholi studied law at the University of Jos and was called to the Bar in 1986. James Ocholi was a Public Counsel from 1987-1988 in the firm of D.D Peter Achimusi in Idah, Kogi State and thereafter left for private practice. In December of 2007, he was conferred with the prestigious title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. James Ocholi specializes in incorporation of companies; constitutional and commercial law, and conveyance; as well as private and public international law. He has worked as Consultant to Governments, parastatals, banks, financial institutions and corporate bodies. He was the Deputy National Legal Adviser (interim) of the APC and later became the Kogi State Coordinator of Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign organisation. From Grass to Grace James-Ocholi James-Ocholi On the 26th of November 1960 the baby Ocholi was born to the couple, Mr. and Mrs. James Momoh Odoh at Idah in the present Kogi State in the then Northern Region of Nigeria, West Africa. He was the second child and the first boy in the family of four girls and two boys. However by reason of early death of the grandparents and uncles, the father took responsibility of the extended family as was the common practice in the African setting, so the house was always full. The resultant stress on his father’s purse meant the children lived marginally and barely had two meals a day. It was in this setting the kid went to public schools and subsequently to a mission high school in the area. Pa James was a staff of the Native Authority in the Agric Department and rose to the position of acting treasurer. He was a devout Christian, an elder in the local church and a strict disciplinarian. The children therefore were not exposed to the usual vices associated with children in the neighbourhood. By virtue of the high school the young Ocholi attended he was further kept under strict moral discipline and subjected to good ethical behaviour such that he was not exposed to unwholesome self indulgence. Even if he had mischievous tendencies as all teenagers and adolescents do, the social atmosphere in the family prevented him from exhibiting any. The Early Encounter with God. In 1974 while in class two of Ochaja Secondary School, Dekina, at an evening school meeting at the school assembly hall, a Christian staff nurse from a neighbouring town was invited to speak to the students. Ocholi had an unusual experience and for the first time he understood that being born to a Christian family did not make one a Christian so he consciously made a decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. He went forward in response to an alter call and accepted Jesus. This singular experience marked the turning point in his life. He suddenly realized that being brilliant in school is not just enough to guarantee success in life. In 1978 the young Ocholi lost his father shortly after graduation from High School. As a result, he became the family’s breadwinner even when he was not old enough to marry. His meager salary of one hundred and twenty five naira per month was barely enough to put basic meals on the table for the entire family. By sheer grace of God, the teenager (Ocholi) was able to secure a scholarship from the then Benue state Government and this enabled him to go through and graduate as a lawyer from University of Jos in 1985. He finished from the Nigerian Law School in 1986 and he was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1986. After the one year compulsory Youth services in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria he declined offers of paid employment because he needed to cater for the younger siblings and the mother who had gone through difficult times while he was in school. According to the young lawyer he remembered his little sister while in his final year who wrote to him wondering why his education was taking so long and asked “Brother, when will you finish University so we can eat meat”. So he discerned that the challenges waiting for him required an entrepreneurial approach. By divine arrangement he had met his wife while in school and they were planning to get married and start a family after his National Youth Corps Service. It became obvious that he needed to make his way and strive for a successful career to meet the financial demands on him. He then started his practice in the small city of Ankpa the wife’s home city and the most commercial centre in Igalaland of Nigeria at the time. He had no start up capital and was barely able to put a table and two chairs as his only office furniture. It was at this critical time that he got married to his wife of over 21 years. In Ocholis words: “In Blessing Fatima Ocholi I have seen the benefits of being married to a woman who loves God. She not only came into my life when I had nothing but all through by her prayers and steadfast support she became one of the pillars of my success as she partook in the challenges of my professional pursuit”. In addition the marriage has been blessed with five wonderful children; Ojone Peace, Aaron Enojo jr, Joshua Eb‘ojo, Uyo Blessing Jr and Ele Excellent. It was also at this time that he got introduced to the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International and became the Pioneer President of the Ankpa Chapter which became the mother chapter to over 35 Chapters. The Fellowship has had a lot of impact in his personal and professional life and brought him in contact with men of high standing who also love to serve God. Overcoming the storm For days on end barrister Ocholi spent his time reading Bible and law books which were indeed few as he couldn’t afford many because of his lean finances. He waited for briefs which were not forthcoming. When eventually a few briefs trickled in he had a devastating experience as he lost his first ten cases at the customary area and magistrate courts level. This appeared damaging to his aspiring practice as no one would like to patronize a lawyer with a penchant for losing cases. Rather than fall into despair the barrister decided to appeal against the decisions to the high Court. At the hearing of the appeals all the judgments’ were overturned in his clients’ favor and indeed some of the judgments were reported extensively. As a result his reputation was enhanced, God using seemingly damaging events to set one up on the path of success and acclaim. This was his first major experience of God’s divine arrangement i.e. turning around an ugly situation for one’s good. From this time onwards his practice flourished from one level to another in all the hierarchy of Courts in Nigeria up to and including the Supreme Court. God’s Guidance and Inspiration In 1998 he felt God leading him to relocate from Ankpa to one of the major cities of Nigeria. He and His wife began to pray and they felt God leading them to relocate to Lagos. However Lagos presented a lot of problems including office accommodation. In addition there was a lot of distraction to the movement. It happened that that same year while handling a high profile chieftaincy case at the Court of Appeal, Kaduna he came in contact with Mr. Kehinde Onafowokan, a quintessential Senior Advocate of Nigeria who was to become very influential in his life. He was retained to lead him and a few other lawyers in that case. He saw and admired the strength of Ocholi’s advocacy and asked him where Ankpa was on the face of the map. He told him that he was not meant to practice in a little village. In addition he told him that he had the potential to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (the equivalent of the Queen’s Counsel). This was the first time that his eyes opened to the possibility of attaining the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. To cut a long story short Onafowokan (SAN) invited him to Lagos and offered him an office accommodation free of charge to start his law practice in Lagos at the ground floor of a mansion at 5 Military street, Onikan, Lagos Island. He accepted the offer and moved to Lagos recognizing the offer as the hand of God. Expression of Gratitude Lagos was to be a major turning point in his life as not only did briefs begin to come in at a rapid rate but he began to be exposed to high profile, corporate, criminal and political briefs. The nature of these briefs brought him in close contact with seasoned Senior Advocates of Nigeria on the opposite side and by implication further exposed him in his law practice. Onafowokan (SAN) who at this time had become a father – figure to barrister Ocholi offered that the young man handled all his cases at the Supreme court, Abuja because the SAN was no longer disposed to hectic travels. This singular offer was one of the greatest boosts that the aspiring Ocholi needed if he would attain the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria which required his handling a sizeable number of cases at the Supreme Court among other Courts. He was excited at the offer and he felt it was God paving a way for him. Shortly thereafter as he was preparing for these cases Onafowokan (SAN) died and all his promises could not be actualized. Undoubtedly the sudden passing away of this great mentor and father created a vacuum in Ocholi’s life and career. As he felt it was no longer humanly possible to move forward, he once again turned to God in prayer and declared his confidence in Him that if He brought him thus far in his practice He was more than able to take him to a glorious future and that if He allowed the door to close He had a better door for him. That prayer was answered as he left for another office secured at 24 Macarthy Street, Onikan, Lagos Island. He also trusted God to provide opportunities, wisdom and grace for him to conduct cases from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and finally to the Supreme Court, more so when at this stage he had no godfather. The cases came and he successfully conducted them at all levels of the judicial hierarchy. Shortly after the Lord laid on his heart to relocate to Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria where his practice moved on to a higher level. All the movements put a lot of pressure on his family but his wife rose to the occasion and that lightened the burden. The Conferment of Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) on Ocholi James In 2006 Mr. Ocholi applied for the conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria but was not successful. However as he said the Lord assured him that he was going to get it so in 2007 he applied again. In a keenly but fairly contested process he was successful and on 12th December 2007 he stood among distinguished legal luminaries in the hallowed chambers of the Apex Court, the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the city of Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital as he was conferred with highest and prestigious rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria. This born stammerer, with financially disadvantaged background, loaded with responsibility without the benefit of a godfather in the profession had entered the highest rank that a lawyer in Nigeria could attain, a rank so high that only about that time, 250 living Nigerian hold in the legal profession. This feat is certainly not his personal making, it is the hand of God “who takes a man from the dunghill and makes him to seat among the princes”. Ocholi contested for Kogi Governorship election under the defunct Congress for Progress Change in 2011 and later under the All Progressive Congress in 2014. Though opposition arose to his choice as Minister designate by Buhari (being from the same Local Government with the governor, Capt. Idris. Wada), but Still scaled through and was assigned the Labour and Productivity portfolio. The Enojo James Ocholi (SAN), who was born on 26th November 1960., from Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi state, whose education denies his families meat in their soup studied law at the University of Jos, got called to the Bar in 1986, become Public Counsel from 1987-1988 in the firm of D.D Peter Achimusi in Idah, Kogi State, specializes in incorporation of companies; constitutional and commercial law, and conveyance; as well as private and public international law; worked as Consultant to Governments, parastatals, banks, financial institutions and corporate bodies; was Deputy National Legal Adviser (interim) of the APC and later became Kogi State Coordinator of Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign organization; once served as National Secretary of The Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International in Nigeria. Late Ocholi was a Notary Public of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Pro-chancellor and chairman of Council of the Salem University, Lokoja, once the chairman of Disciplinary Committee of Nigeria Bar Association, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; principal partner of the law firm of Ocholi James & Associates and until is death the State Minister for Labour and Productivity. [myad]