James Ocholi, minister of state for labour and employment,
died yesterday in an auto accident  which occurred near Rijana along the
Kaduna-Abuja road after the rear tyres of his car bursted.
He and his son died instantly in the crash, while his wife went
into coma and later died at Doka hospital, Kaduna.
The tragic incident, which happened on Sunday afternoon was initially confirmed by Hadi Sirika, the minister
of state for aviation, via Twitter.
Also, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) confirmed the
incident, saying Ocholi’s remains had been deposited at the
morgue of the National Hospital, Abuja.
Bisi Kazeem, spokesperson of the agency, confirmed to NAN that
the corpse was taken to the hospital along with two others.
Kazeem explained that the deceased lost their lives in a crash
that occurred at Kilometre 57, along Kaduna-Abuja highway on
Sunday.
“The minister and two other occupants died eventually, while four
people were injured,” he said, although he declined to give details
of the other victims.
Francis Udoma, Kaduna state sector commander of FRSC, gave a
clearer picture of the tragedy and its cause.
“The rear tyre bursted and the vehicle summersaulted several times
into the bush,” Udoma said. “The minister and his son died on the
spot; the wife died in the government hospital in Doka, Kaduna.”
He added that the late minister’s driver, chief detail, orderly and
personal assistant also sustained injuries.
He said he did not know where the minister was coming from,
as all he knew was that “the minister was heading towards Abuja
when the accident happened”.
Ocholi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), hailed from Kogi
state. He was an active politician.
In 2011, he contested the governorship election on the platform of
the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
His bid to repeat the same feat under the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in 2015, suffered a setback as the late Abubakar
Audu clinched the ticket of the ruling party.
He graduated from the University of Jos and was admitted to the
bar in 1986.

Source: NAN