- Safiu Kehinde
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and four other Nigerian delegates have arrived in Vatican City for the funeral ceremony of late Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis.
NPO Reported that President Bola Tinubu had yesterday sent a five-man delegate led by Akpabio to Pope Francis’ funeral which is scheduled to take place on Saturday.
Recall that the Pontiff passed away on Easter Monday at the age 88 after battle with prolonged illness.
Other members of the Nigerian delegates set to grace the funeral of Pope Francis include the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu; President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji; Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Archbishop Ignatius Ayua Kaigama of Abuja.
The delegates, according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, will be delivering a letter conveying President Tinubu’s sympathy and condolences on Pope Francis’ passing.
The letter will be delivered to the Acting Head of the Vatican.
Meanwhile, Akpabio, in a Facebook post shared on Friday, expressed the nation’s respect and condolences.
“As the Leader of Nigeria’s delegation to the burial ceremony of Pope Francis, I paid tribute to our departed Pope, on behalf of President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian People at the Lying-in-State of Pope Francis, inside St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City,” he wrote.
With few hours left before the commencement of the final rite, several world leaders, have arrived at the Vatican City.