TheCable

Taiwo James Elegbede, driver of the ill-fated vehicle where James Ocholi, minister of state for labour and employment, his wife, and son died, has no driver’s license, Boboye Oyeyemi, corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), has revealed.

Oyeyemi said this on Wednesday while presenting an interim report of the accident to the federal executive council (FEC) at the presidential villa in Abuja.

He explained that the commission could not locate the name of the driver in its database, and attributed the accident to over-speeding.

He also said Ocholi and his son did not make use of seat belts during the journey.

“The ejection of the minister and his son, who occupied rear seats confirmed the fact that their rear seat belts were not in use and on the contrary the driver and the orderly survived because the front seat belts were used,” he said.

“There was no record on the drivers’ license national data base of the driver of the Hon. Minister with the name, Taiwo James Elegbede. However, there was record found on the driver’s license national data base of the driver of the Hon. Minister’s back-up vehicle with the name Ibrahim Abubakar.

“Information gathered revealed that the driver of the crashed vehicle was actually moving at excess of the stipulated speed when he had a tyre bust.

“The weather and vehicle mechanical conditions did not contribute to the break-crash factors that led to the occurrence of this crash.

“Although there exists a pothole at the crash vicinity, it existence and the road recondition were not contributory factors. Though it lacks speed limit informative signs and speed surveillance cameras to caution and deter speeding motorists.

“The crash vehicle driver was driving too fast and he slammed on the break so hard.

“These two factors materially contributed to the inability of the driver to maintain control when the left rear tyre bust.’’

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to lead his cabinet members on a condolence visit to the late minister’s family.

Meanwhile, Babachair Lawal, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), has said the funeral rites of the deceased will hold between March 16 and March 18.

Lawal said the burial will hold at the Dekina hometown of the Ocholis in Kogi  state.

The accident, which claimed the lives of the three family members, occurred on Kaduna-Abuja road on Sunday.