The announcement was made by Dr Dorn-Cklaimz Enamhe, Secretary of the Central Planning Committee for Wayas’ burial, during a press briefing in Calabar on Thursday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Dr Wayas, who died at the age of 80 in a London hospital, was returned to Nigeria on July 10, 2024, after spending more than two years in a UK morgue.
Born in 1941 in Obanliku, Wayas served as Senate President during Nigeria’s Second Republic from 1979 to 1983.
Dr Enamhe expressed gratitude to Governor Bassey Otu and other individuals for their efforts in repatriating Wayas’ body.
He called on all admirers of the late Senate President to join in honouring him. Enamhe highlighted Governor Otu’s commitment to ensuring that no Cross River elder statesman who dies abroad is left in a foreign land; their remains will be brought home.
The committee had to collaborate with various authorities in Nigeria and the Nigerian High Commission in the UK to verify the authenticity of the body.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Cross River, Nsa Gil, announced that the funeral would be held at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar and later in the deceased’s hometown in Bassang, Obanliku Local Government of Cross River. Dignitaries, including current Senate President Godswill Akpabio, are expected to attend.
Meanwhile, TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that former lawmaker Hon. Hamid Babatunde Eesuola has passed away just days before his scheduled PhD defence at the University of Ibadan.
TimesNow.com.ng reported that Eesula died on Thursday, October 31, following a brief illness.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
