Former Senate President Joseph Wayas died of poverty and not sickness, his first son, Joseph Wayas Jr, has said.

He said his father may have been alive if he had access to proper medical care.

Speaking with The Nation in Abuja, Wayas Jr also rued the delay in conducting the funeral of his father who passed away at 80 in December 2021.

He expressed displeasure with the Committee set up by the Cross River State Government to organise the funeral.

He however expressed gratitude to Governor Ben Ayade, for being responsive and decisive following the announcement of the senior Wayas’ demise by setting up the Committee and empowering it to plan the burial.

He regretted the delay in carrying out the burial of his father, saying there is no reason he should not be buried in the next 30 to 40 days.

The younger Wayas said in the last three years before his father’s death, his sister in London bore the cost of his treatment and maintaining the corpse since 2021.

Wayas Jr also expressed the family’s gratitude to President Muhamudu Buhari, who facilitated his father’s trip to England and provided funds for him to have access to the best medical care.

However he said the support provided by the Federal Government barely lasted four months before it washed its hands off the matter.

According to him: “My dad did not die of sickness. My dad died of poverty. We can give honour to Buhari because had Buhari not determined that my dad should go out for medical treatment immediately, he would have died sooner.

“Buhari and the Federal Government gave my dad money to go outside. For that reason he lived three years longer. It got to a point where the Federal Government said they cannot do anything anymore if the National Assembly cannot do something. If my father had received the kind of care that a man his age and personality should have received, Rt. Hon. Dr Wayas would still have been alive.

“He died because at the end of the day, there was no money to provide for hi is urgent care. The money Buhari had given him was supposed to last for three or four months treatment- not three years by the British doctors who gave a more up to date and critical assessment of his needs. Later, t became a big problem buying medication and seeing doctors.

“The bills were piling up and it was the bills that my sister and her children were responsible for. My dad and sister were thrown out of my sister’s house into the streets due to their debt obligation to the landlord. At the end of the day, my sister was able to get a little respite from the local government, yet the accommodation was far from being the best.

“It was a flea, cockroach, mildew infested environment. It was the kind of environment that made my father’s bad condition even worse. He kept visiting the hospitals, often staying days there, because of the conditions in the government provided accommodation where he was staying. So I make the point today that my dad did not die of sickness but he died of poverty.

“There were plenty of attempts by members of the National Assembly to intercede but the leadership of the National Assembly was not forthcoming. Even a letter written from the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government to the NASS leadership to take over from where it had stopped in caring for Wayas did not get a response.

“He did not need to die. What is going on now with the burial committee is a further betrayal. It is like pouring pepper on a wound, it is an insult after injury. Can you imagine his grandchildren’s payroll being garnished to offset the medical bills incurred on Dr. Wayas care, while some committee members are meanwhile benefiting from something that no one else.not even his grandchildren can benefit from.” (The Nation)

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