What started as a rumour, spreading like wildfire, became a sad reality. Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. James Ocholi, was dead. He had died with his wife and one of his sons in an auto crash on the Kaduna-Abuja Road.
So it was not surprising that a substantial part of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last Wednesday was devoted to paying tribute to him.
It was the first time the President Muhammadu Buhari administration was witnessing such sad moment of losing a cabinet member. Although most of the surviving members of the cabinet were not dressed in all-black or white attires while attending last week FEC meeting as a way of mourning their dead colleague, they were gloomy as they attended the valedictory session.
The session was also different in many ways from those held under the immediate past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan when paying last respects to a deceased member of the cabinet or an important personality in the society.
While almost all cabinet members attending such valedictory sessions under Jonathan were always asked to make a comment on the deceased in question, it was systematically controlled last week Wednesday.
For Ocholi’s valedictory session, one minister was picked from each of the six geopolitical zones to comment on him.
While most sessions under Jonathan again always recorded free flow of tears by the cabinet members, it was a different story last Wednesday as the situation was perfectly brought under control.
No member of the cabinet who spoke or did not speak during the session last Wednesday openly wept in the Council Chamber.
This was mainly achieved because fewer persons were allowed to pay tribute to the deceased.
After Buhari kick-started the session, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, was allowed to pay tribute to the deceased.
Ngige, who had worked directly with the deceased, was also one of the cabinet members who saw him last before his death.
Ngige said: “We interacted last on Friday, he was mediating in trade dispute with JOHESU, health sector workers. He helped to fashion the party constitution.
“He had capacity for hardwork and was a good negotiator. Death has created a huge void in the Ministry of Labour and Employment which is hard to fill.
The Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire said: “He had initiative, he was methodical and organised. He was a respectable man of character. Intensely serious yet jovial. He was a consummate negotiator.”
On his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh said: “His joining the CPC in Kogi in the early days showed his foresight and courage as opposition politics is not a party in the park but a marathon in the desert.
The Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Claudius Daramola said that Ocholi was strong minded, lovely and fearless.
“He has left us with so much pain. A heartache that no one but God can heal.” He added
The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu noted that Ocholi was soft-spoken, a gentleman, persuasive, and lived spartan, humble life.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khadija Bukar Abba said that Ocholi was very much committed to the change agenda.
“He was always full of joy and fond of his family. He will be missed, memories he leaves behind will be his legacy. We pray for the full recovery of the other injured passengers injured in the accident.” She stated.
After the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal announced the tentative burial arrangement and the support the Federal Government was giving to the immediate surviving members of the deceased family, cabinet members were also led on visit to Ocholi’s family house immediately after the FEC meeting.
Blocking payroll padding
Although 23,000 ghost workers have been uncovered, which is saving the Federal Government N2.29 billion monthly, indications emerged last Wednesday that more are still in the system.
The government is now investigating additional 11,000 workers to know if they are real or just dummies for siphoning Federal Government’s treasury into private pockets.
The government has vowed not to stop with the payroll system.
It plans to extend such checks on other government’s expenditure in order to block similar theft.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun said: “We felt that the continuous audit work should not just be limited to payroll, there is actually need to strengthen internal audit across government.
“So as an interim we have agreed to do the Presidential initiative on continuous audits which will give backings to the work that we are currently doing and will allow us to extend this work beyond payroll to other areas of expenditure.” She added, “It is not enough to just identify the ghost workers and block the fraud, further steps should be taken to identify those behind the payroll ‘padding.”
This set of people should be brought to book to act as deterrence.