Waya Joseph

Joseph Wayas GCON (21 May 1941 – 30 November 2021) was Nigeria's Senate President during the Second Nigerian Republic (1979–1983).

He was born in Basang, Obanliku, Cross River State on 21st May 1941 and attended the Dennis Memorial Grammar School.

He went to the United Kingdom where he studied at the Higher Tottenham Technical College, London, the West Bronwich College of Commerce, Science and Technology, Birmingham, and Aston University, Birmingham.

Returning to Nigeria, he worked as a manager or controller from 1960-1969 for several companies in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Wayas was a member of the Society of International Affairs at Lincoln University, United States.

He was commissioner for Transport in South-Eastern State (now broken into Akwa Ibom and Cross River states) from 1972-1974.

He was a member of the constituent assembly in 1977-1978.

When General Olusegun Obasanjo terminated military rule in 1979, Joseph Wayas was elected to the Senate on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform and appointed Senate President.

He represented the northern senatorial district alongside Senator Joseph Oqua Ansa, who represented Calabar.

Wayas had an excellent relationship with President Shehu Shagari, ensuring bills were generally discussed and agreed before being introduced.

He was known for playing tennis with the US Ambassador, Mr. Thomas R. Pickering, who was later taken to State House to meet President Shagari, a breach of protocol.

Under Wayas's leadership, the Senate summoned Tony Momoh, editor of the Daily Times, for contempt, leading to a legal battle where Momoh successfully argued his constitutional right to hold government accountable.

While visiting the United States in September 1981, Wayas was entertained by boxer Muhammad Ali, who threw a party in his honor.

In the lead-up to the 1983 elections, Wayas was the leader of the NPN’s 'Lagos Group,' supporting a change of governor in Cross River State, opposing the 'Home Front' led by the incumbent governor Clement Isong.

Wayas left office along with other members of the Shagari administration when General Muhammadu Buhari staged a coup on New Year’s Eve 1983 and went into exile.

He returned in 1987 and was held in political detention from 1987-1988.

Wayas was Deputy Chairman of the 1994/1995 National Constitutional Conference, which organized and midwifed the National Conference.

In 1998, he was a founding member of the All People's Party.

He later joined the Peoples Democratic Party in 2001 at the urging of Cross River governor Donald Duke.

Wayas was a strong advocate for true Federalism as the solution to Nigeria’s democratic problems, which had been influenced by the Nigerian Civil War.

In October 2003, he spoke out against the ongoing local council reforms by the Federal Government, describing them as 'unconstitutional'.

He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA).

In January 2009, he described post-election petitions to electoral tribunals as 'senseless, reckless, and time-wasting'.

The same year, he was nominated for one of Nigeria’s highest honours, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), which was bestowed on him by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010.

In January 2010, Wayas advocated that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan be authorized to act as President pending the return of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who had been incapacitated by illness.