Exactly two years and nine months after his passing, the remains of Late Senate President, Dr Joseph Wayas, has arrived Nigeria for burial. Wayas, who was Nigeria’s Senate President between October 1, 1979 and December 31, 1983, died in a London hospital on November 30, 2021, at the age of 80. His first wife also died 12 days after. While his wife had since been buried, his remains had been kept in a morgue in London, following unresolved disputes in his family. 
It was rumored sometimes ago that he had since been secretly buried in London. But that story has now been quashed with his remains arriving Nigerian 33 months after. Ye late Wayas’ body was received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,at 4:30am today Wednesday, July 10, 2024,by his family, friends and some prominent sons and daughters of Cross River state. The body was driven straight from the airport to the National Hospital, Abuja, and had been deposited at the hospital’s mogue. The date for his burial however remains unknown.
It would be recalled that since 2022 after a funeral committee was set up by former governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade to prepare for the burial of the late Senate President, there seems to be no headway in resolving the dispute among the family members. The committee headed by former Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi had at many times appealed to the late Senator’s family members to sheathe their swords and enable the remains of their father to be laid to rest. The then Governor Ayade was even reported to have released N200m to support the funeral.Controversies, including allegations of misapplication of funds, have however, overwhelmed all the processes.
The first son, Joe Wayas and second wife, Catherine have locked on in a personality fight which has torn the family apart. Joe was accused of misappropriating money, which he stoutly denied it, insisting that the committee must give accounts. Joe also sued his father’s second wife, whom he said was never recognized as wife. He has approached a court in Abuja seeking to stop her from parading herself either as a widow of late Joseph Wayas or representative of his father’s estate. He has also refused to work with the committee. He had not hidden his anger at them and has been cautioning them to stop spoiling his name with lies.
Wednesday’s arrival of the body was said to have been masterminded by a volunteer group which had coordinated donations from concerned indigenes of the Cross River North zone.