President Bola Tinubu has sent a five-member team to represent Nigeria at the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88.
A statement by presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga said the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, will lead the Nigerian delegation to Vatican City.
The group includes Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria; Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto; and Archbishop Ignatius Ayua Kaigama of Abuja.
The funeral is scheduled for Saturday at the Vatican.
The delegation will also deliver a letter from President Tinubu expressing his condolences to the temporary head of the Vatican.
KanyiDaily recalls that Pope Francis, who has been battling with bilateral pneumonia, died on April 21 after making a hopeful appearance at Saint Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
Following his death, President Bola Tinubu and other world leaders joined Catholics and Christians around the world in mourning the death of Pope Francis on Monday morning.