A Legal Practitioner, Daniel Makolo has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently appoint a qualified Kogi indigene to replace late Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi (SAN), to represent the state in his cabinet.

Makolo, who addressed a press conference at the weekend in Lokoja, said for almost seven months after the death of Ocholi in a fatal road accident on March 6, Kogi has been denied representation at Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings.

While describing the FEC meeting as regular and constitutionally mandatory meetings being held to advice, coordinate and determine the activities and the general direction of the President and the Government of the Federation, he emphasized the dire need for representation.

According to him, the meeting has the primary purpose of promoting good governance and welfare of all persons in the country on the principles of freedom, equality and justice and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people.

The lawyer said the only period Kogi was represented at the FEC meeting was the four months (November, 2015 to March 6, 2016) Ocholi spent as Minister of the Federal Republic before his untimely death along with his wife and beloved son.

“This is wrongful and unconstitutional. It is the duty and responsibility of all authorities and persons exercising executive, legislative or judicial powers in Nigeria to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of the constitution strictly”, he said.

Makolo stressed that the only way to maintain the integrity of the Federation was for the leadership to ensure equal representation of the units, entrench constitutionality and guarantee, justice, fairness and the rule of law.

“As a concerned citizen of Nigeria and a worried indigene of Kogi State, I wrote to our dear and beloved president last month on the need to appoint a qualified indigene of the state as minister but I am yet to receive acknowledgement”, he said.

Makolo also called for a ‘corona inquest’ into the remote, immediate and actual causes of the accident that claimed the life of Barr James Ocholi (SAN), wife and son on the fateful March 6, to ascertain the culpability of persons connected with it and even the car manufacturer.

“This is necessary because accidents don’t just happen, they are made to happen. Who took and sent the picture of his mangled body rudely on the social media That act caused us deep shock and severe pain apart from his death”, he said.