The Federal Government has condoled with the family of the late Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr James Ocholi (SAN).
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir Lawal, told newsmen at the National Hospital in Abuja that he was at the hospital to convey the President’s condolences to the family, Kogi State and Nigerians.
“It is a great loss indeed,’’ he said.
Ocholi, his wife and son died on Sunday in a ghastly motor accident on the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway.
The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, described Ocholi as “a man loved by many people in the state.
“He contributed his quota to (development) of society. We received the news which was shocking to everyone in the state.’’
Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, former Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Humphrey Aba, Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West), and others were at the hospital to sympathise with the family.
Family members and a horde of sympathisers were at the venue.
Just as journalists were making their reports, the wife’s corpse was brought in and deposited at the mortuary.
The corpses of Ocholi and his son had earlier been deposited at the mortuary
The accident occurred at Km57 on the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway when the convoy was returning to Abuja on Sunday.
Of the seven people involved in the accident, the minister, his wife and his second son died while four others were injured.
Ocholi had two sons and three daughters.
Bello in a statement in Lokoja on Sunday described the death of Ocholi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), as a monumental loss for the state and the country at large.
The late minister hailed from Ogbabede/Abocho in Dekina local government area of Kogi State.
“Late Ocholi was a pragmatic, dynamic, humane and brilliant law officer who was known around the world for his dexterous approach to legal and political issues and one of the most unswerving constitutional lawyers Nigeria has ever produced,’’ the governor said of the late minister.
The statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, recalled how the late minister joined other progressive minded individuals around the country to drive the intellectual pillars of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the statement, the governor regretted that Ocholi would surely be missed by all.
While condoling members of his immediately family, political associates, friends, colleagues and APC over his death, Bello said that the vacuum left behind by the deceased would be difficult to fill.
He prayed for the peaceful repose of Ocholi’s soul and urged all those he left behind to see his death as an act of God.
Also reacting, the state Treasurer of the APC, Mr Ismail Adesayo, described Ocholi’s death as very unfortunate.
He described the late minister as a fine leader who meant well for the people and development of Kogi state and Nigeria.
Adesayo lamented that Ocholi died when his service was most needed in the state, praying to God to grant him eternal rest and the family the fortitude to bear irreparable loss.
He also prayed to God to have mercy on the state by putting a stop to sudden deaths of political headlights in the state.
Ocholi was a governorship aspirant in PDP but later defected to the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) where he became the party’s governorship candidate in the December 3, 2011, governorship election in the state.
The National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement by the National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, said the party was still in shock over the incident.
Buni, in a condolence message, described the deaths as a monumental loss.
Buni prayed for the recovery of other occupants of the ghastly vehicle accident.
The APC National Secretary said the late Ocholi, who was the party’s former Deputy National Legal Adviser, would be remembered for his selfless service to the country as minister, party, legal profession and his home state, Kogi.
While extending his condolences to the people and government of Kogi state, Buni prayed to Almighty God to grant Ocholi’s immediate family the fortitude to bear the painful loss.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said on Sunday that the remains of the late minister, his wife and son been been deposited at the morgue of the National Hospital, Abuja.
Spokesperson of FRSC, Mr Bisi Kazeem, confirmed this in Abuja.
“The minister and two other occupants died eventually, while four people were injured,’’ said the spokesman.
