Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy, Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC), has insisted that late James Ocholi’s driver, Taiwo James Elegbede had
no driver’s license record with the commission.
Kazeem stated this Abuja on Sunday, March 13 in an interview
with the News Agency of Nigeria. According to him, the news making
round in the social media that Elegbede, driver of the ill-fated vehicle
that claimed the lives
of Ocholi and his family members has a driver’s license is not true.
"Elegbede
is not captured in our driver’s licensing data, so the license he
claimed to have expired must be a fake one. Our license procedure
includes physical presence and biometric
capturing of applicants which is permanently stored in our data bank,
for the purpose of verification. We always tell members of the public to
visit our licensing centres
spread across the country and desist from patronizing touts while
applying for their driver’s license. Elegbede can not be called a
competent driver if he does not have a
genuine driver’s license, which he can only acquire showing mastery of
basic driving principles.
Reacting to the
claim that the vehicle(Lexus 570 SUV) the driver was driving was one
given to Ocholi from the office of the Head of Service and that he
wasn't allowed to examine the car, Kazeem said:
"A good driver must perform a routine
check on his vehicles before driving out, it is not an excuse to say
because the vehicle was provided by another office and he should ignored
a check on it. Infact, the maintenance department could not
claim in-culpability as a result of receiving the vehicle from another
agency or department, the more reason, why proper check should be
carried out as the vehicle is changing hands."
Kazeem said the commission while wishing Elegbede a speedy recovery,
urged members of the public to only engage the service of a genuinely
licensed driver to avert road carnages.
James Ocholi, his wife and a son died in an accident along
Kaduna-Abuja Highway on Sunday,March 6, while the driver and the Orderly
sustained serious injuries.
LIB
recalls that Elegbede's colleagues at the transport department of the
Ministry of Labour and Employment had earlier debunked the claim that he
had no license saying that Elegbede is a licensed driver who had served
the ministry for over 25 years. They said Elegbede's driver's license
expired on January 15th 2016 and he had applied for another one.
Source: NAN
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