By John Ogunsemore
Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Friday led a high-powered Federal Government delegation to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis.
The 88-year-old pontiff died on Easter Monday, April 21, and is due for burial on Saturday.
Other members of the Nigerian delegation sent by President Bola Tinubu include Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu; President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji; Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Ayau Kaigama.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Akpabio said, “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.”