The FRSC made it clear that the late Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr. James Ocholi’s driver had no driving licence record with the commission.
Head, Media Relations and Strategy, Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr Bisi Kazeem, said this on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, in Abuja.
According to him, the news making the rounds in the social media that Mr Taiwo Elegbede, driver of the ill-fated vehicle that claimed the lives of Ocholi and his family members has a driving licence is not true.
“Elegbede is not captured in our driving licencing data, so the licence he claimed to have expired must be a fake one.
“Our licence 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 licencing centres spread across the country and desist from patronising touts while applying for their driving licence.
“Elegbede can not be called a competent driver if he does not have a genuine driving licence, which he can only acquire showing mastery of basic driving principles."
Also, reacting to the claim that the vehicle was not originally that of their ministry, 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 ignore 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 wished the driver speedy recovery and urged members of the public to only engage the service of a genuinely licenced drivers, to avert road carnage.
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.
Corps marshal of the commission, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, had said the driver was not captured in the commission’s data during his briefing to President Muhamammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
He said the drivers in the Federal Ministries’ Department and Agencies should come for adequate training on convoy driving by the commission.
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