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Tag: Joseph Wayas

  • Ex-Senate President Wayas to be buried November 30

    Ex-Senate President Wayas to be buried November 30

    •Burial coming three years after death

    The body of former Senate President in the Second Republic, Dr. Joseph Wayas, will be buried on November 30, three years after his demise.

    Wayas died on November 30, 2021.

    He was 80.

    The Secretary of the Central Planning Committee for the burial of late Wayas, Dr. Dorn-Cklaimz Enamhe, yesterday in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

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

    Enamhe, who expressed appreciation to Governor Bassey Out and some other persons for returning the body of Wayas, urged the admirers of the late senator to join in honouring him.

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    According to him, the Cross River State governor assured the burial organisers that no elder statesman or leader from Cross River who died abroad would be left in a foreign land.

    The secretary 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.

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

  • Remains of Nigeria’s late Senate president Joseph Wayas arrive in Nigeria

    Remains of Nigeria’s late Senate president Joseph Wayas arrive in Nigeria

    The remains of Nigeria’s late Senate President, Joseph Wayas, were received at the Cargo Wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Wednesday, July 10.

    The remains arrived from Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom, aboard British Airways flight BA O83 at 4:40 am on July 10, 2024.

    The late lawmaker, originally from Obudu Local Government Area in Cross River State, served as Nigeria’s Senate President during the Third Republic, specifically from 1979 to 1983.

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    He passed away on November 30, 2021, and his burial had been delayed due to financial constraints faced by the family.

    Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, representing Cross River North, and Senator Eteng Williams, representing Cross River Central, were present at the airport to receive the remains of the late lawmaker.

    Others were; Honorable Peter Akpanke, representing Obanliku Bekwarra, Obudu Federal constituency, and the convener of the Who-is-who forum of Cross River Northern Senatorial District amongst others.

    Sources revealed that the corpse has been deposited at the National Hospital in Abuja, but said it’s not clear when the actual burial will take place.