Ex-Senate president Wayas’ corpse for burial Nov. 30 after two years in UK morgue

The late Wayas was born in 1941 in Obanliku and served as the president of the Senate from 1979 to 1983 during the Second Republic.

News Agency of Nigeria • October 31, 2024

Ex-Senate President, Joseph Wayas [Credit: Punch Newspapers]

A former president of the Senate, Joseph Wayas, who died on November 30, 2021, will be committed to mother earth on November 30, three years after his demise.

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

Mr Wayas, who died in a London hospital at 80, was brought to Nigeria on July 10, 2024, after over two years in a United Kingdom mortuary.

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

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

He stated that the governor of Cross River assured 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. Unfortunately, the body has been kept this long due to issues and disagreement among members of his family.

“We had to wait for the 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 had yet to be buried.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Cross River, nsa Gil, said the funeral would be held at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar and later in the late Wayas’ home town in Bassang, Obanliku Local Government of Cross River.

He added that several dignitaries, including Senate President, Goodwill Akpabio, were expected at the event.

(NAN)

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