A handful of elite from Meme, Southwest Region, reportedly barred from attending the funeral of late William Ekong, Mayor of Mbonge Council on February 13, showed up at the funeral ceremony, after-all.

The Post gathered that, prior to the funeral programme, some close aids of the late Mayor, reportedly compiled a list of 10 influential persons from the Division and forwarded it to the Sub-divisional Office.

A message accompanying the names reportedly prayed the administration of the Subdivision to use all means available to stop the presence of the said persons at the funeral ceremony held at the esplanade of MbongeMarumba Grandstand.

But almost all the blacklisted made an impressive presence at the occasion. It is reported that news of such arrangements reached the persons concerned and they decided to attend to proof 'detractors' wrong.

A close aid to one of those reportedly blacklisted told The Post, on condition of anonymity that had the persons whose names were blacklisted not answered present, there would have been more gossip than obtained before.

The source averred that, given that the late Mayor was a public figure, development agent, educationist and traditional ruler, it would have been unwise for all those blacklisted not to be at the funeral.

The same source said the deceased deserved the kind of respect that matched up with his exploits in the Division.

The Post learnt that the demand to bar some elites from attending the funeral could not be enforced because the right procedure was not followed.

According to an elite, such arrangements are implemented through a court order.
However, the journey to eternity of the late Mayor saw the presence of hundreds of mourners, among them Senators, Mayors, former Ministers, traditional rulers and educationist from across the Southwest Region and beyond.

After, the funeral mass, the remains of the former Mayor were buried at his Nganjo Palace in strict traditional norms.