By Tunde Oso

The Head of the Association of Urhobo Mayoral Family Crown (AUMFC), Eshanekpe Israel, popularly known as Mayor Akpodoro, has commended President Bola Tinubu for granting pardon to Kelvin Oniarah, Frank Azuekor, and several other Nigerians recently released from various correctional facilities across the country.

Akpodoro, who is also the Mayor of Urhoboland, described the President’s action as a demonstration of compassion and visionary leadership, saying it reflects a responsive leader who puts the welfare of his people first.

Speaking with journalists on Monday, the Mayor said:

“To err is human, but forgiveness is divine. President Tinubu has shown record-breaking forgiveness for those who, at one point in their lives, took the law into their own hands.”

Akpodoro, who has led a decade-long advocacy for clemency for several Urhobo natives — including former Delta State governor Chief James Onanefe Ibori, as well as Oniarah and Azuekor — said their pardon was an act of divine timing.

“God’s time has come into the lives of those who were granted pardon, using the President as the vessel to deliver it through his prerogative of mercy,” he said.

He added that the President had exercised his constitutional powers with “vision, compassion, and the fear of God.”

“For instance, Oniarah and Azuekor are youthful Urhobo sons who still have much to contribute to national development. Their release will help redeem them from returning to crime,” he said, assuring that he would work to ensure their full reintegration into Urhobo society and the larger Nigerian community.

The Mayor also commended the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy for its painstaking work in recommending deserving individuals for clemency, noting that Oniarah and Azuekor had served more than half of their sentences and shown genuine remorse.

Akpodoro, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, urged Nigerians to welcome the freed citizens with understanding and forgiveness.

“Forgiveness across faiths is essential and an integral part of humanity,” he said. “Many Nigerians misunderstand or ignore the President’s constitutional power to grant pardon to convicts who have shown repentance.”

He explained that a presidential pardon represents “complete forgiveness for a crime,” though it does not erase the conviction itself, while commutation substitutes a less severe punishment for the original sentence.

Akpodoro called on Nigerians to show compassion toward those pardoned to ensure the full purpose of the President’s prerogative of mercy — announced during the National Day celebration — is achieved.