Tag: ex-Senate President

The body of the former president of the Senate, Dr. Joseph Wayas, who died on Nov. 30, 2021 would be committed to Mother Earth on Nov. 30, three years after his demise.

This was disclosed at a news conference by Dr Dorn-Cklaimz Enamhe, Secretary, Central Planning Committee for the burial of late Wayas on Thursday in Calabar.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Wayas, who died in a London hospital at the age of 80, was brought to Nigeria on July 10, 2024 after over two years in a United Kingdom morgue.

He was born in 1941 in Obanliku; served as the president of the Senate from 1979 to 1983 during the Second Republic.

Enamhe, who appreciated Gov. Bassey Otu, a member of a group known as: Who is Who in Northern Cross River Forum, and some individuals for repatriating the body of Wayas, called on all those who admired him to join in honouring him.

According to him, the governor of Cross River has assured them that no elder statesman or leader from Cross River, who died abroad would be left in a foreign land, his remains must be brought to his ancestral home.

The secretary of the committee said the committee had to work with various authorities in Nigeria and  the Nigerian High Commission in the UK to ascertain the authenticity of the body.

“When we brought the body back, his wife and children assessed it critically and confirmed that it was their father, so, as I speak to you the body is that of the former president of the senate.

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“Unfortunately the body has been kept this long due to issues and disagreement among members of his family.

“We had to wait for these issues to be resolved and as of today, they have been resolved, that is why we are going ahead with the burial,” he said.

He also appreciated the media for constantly reminding the whole nation that the body of the former president of the senate was yet to be buried.

Mr Nsa Gil, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Cross River, said the funeral would be held at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar and later in the deceased home town in Bassang, Obanliku Local Government of Cross River.

He added that there would be many dignitaries, including Mr Goodwill Akpabio, the current President of the Senate, among others.

(NAN)

The remains of a former  Senate President,  Joseph Wayas, arrived yesterday at the Cargo wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja from the United Kingdom.

British Airways BA O83  that flew the body from Heathrow Airport in London touched down at 4.40 am.

Sources told The Nation that the body was deposited at the National Hospital in Abuja.

Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, who represents Cross River North in the Senate, and Senator Eteng Williams of Cross River Central led a team that received the corpse.

The team included   Peter Akpanke, representing Obanliku Bekwarra, Obudu Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, and some members of the Who-is-Who Forum of Cross River Northern Senatorial District. 

Wayas, who was Senate President between 1983 and  1997 died on November 30, 2021. He hailed from  Obudu Local Government Area of  Cross River State.

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His  burial had been controversial even after the Cross State Government offered him a state burial to recognise his roles during the Second  Republic. As of press time, there was no information on when he would be buried.

The Senate on Tuesday frowned at the delay in his interment.   

 Senator Gershom Bassey, through a motion, said the delay was embarrassing to the Senate and the Federal Government.

Bassey said, “It is very worrisome and embarrassing that 14 months after the death of the former Senate President, his remains still lie in the morgue in the UK.

“The Senate needs to as a matter of urgency, intervene by taking over the burial plans of the deceased.”