The controversies surrounding the burial of the Second Republic Senate leader, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, were yesterday laid to rest.

A renowned Islamic cleric and family friend of the Sarakis, Sheikh Sulaiman Faruk Onikijipa, debunked the widely circulating rumour that Saraki was buried in a casket last Wednesday in his Ilorin GRA residence.

Sheikh Onikijipa made the clarification in his lecture at the fidau prayer for the repose of the soul of the late politician held in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

Onikijipa who said he partook in the last bath for the late politician's corpse and subsequent burial alongside other clerics, said Saraki was buried without the casket that brought his corpse from Lagos to Ilorin.

He also explained that it is permissible in Islam to do the janazah prayer with the corpse in the coffin, so long as the corpse in the coffin faces the direction of qiblah.

The cleric explained that the large crowd at Yidi praying ground necessitated the need not to bring out Saraki's corpse from the casket before the janazah prayer was conducted on it.

He said this was done to forestall possible recording of casualties from the surging crowd.

The scion of Saraki dynasty, Senator Bukola Saraki, has assured people of Kwara State that the family of the late politician will continue from where his late father left off in the spheres of philanthropy and people-oriented politics.

Speaking during the fidau prayer for his father,the former Kwara State governor, Dr Bukola Saraki pledged that Kwara people would not suffer after the death of his father, saying he and his other siblings would sustain the legacies of their father.

Saraki who said his late father regarded poor masses of the state as Very Important Personality (VIP) during his life time, added that they would continue to be taken as members of Saraki family.

The event, which witnessed an unprecedented crowd of people, also saw the Metropolitan Square, the venue of the event filled to capacity, an unusual occurrence according to the people of the state.

Dignitaries that graced the prayer included Vice President Namadi Sambo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, CBN governor Lamido Sanusi, the governors of Niger, Edo, Kebbi, Kaduna and Kogi States.

The Emir of Ilorin, Alh Ibrahim Sulu- Gambari led other traditional rulers in the state to the event while the chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheikh Salihu Bashir led the prayer.