Action Congress Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Elders' Forum in Offa has alleged a grand conspiracy by the Kwara PDP leadership to remove the only ACN council chairman in the state, Prince Saheed Popoola.

The chairman of the ACN forum, Pa Abel Olatundun, said in a statement issued on
Thursday evening that the plot to remove Popoola thickened following his outright rejection of overtures and subtle threats to make him defect to the PDP or pledge loyalty to former Governor Bukola Saraki.

Pa Olatundun said the PDP, which he said is using the House of Assembly for the sinister plot, plans to deploy the tactics of 'using the puns to get at the queen' by also suspending/sacking three PDP chairmen in the guise of punishing erring council bosses allegedly implicated in obtaining unauthorised loans.

Fourteen of the 16 local councils in the state were fingered in the said loan controversy. Popoola had appeared before the Assembly to explain himself on the matter.

The statement by the ACN Elders' Forum read: "We wish to draw the attention of the democratic world to the sinister and desperate plot of the leadership of Kwara PDP and its government to remove the chairman of the Offa Local Government, the only elected ACN chairman in Kwara State.

"We have it on good authority that this sinister move is billed for next week Tuesday when the Assembly convenes, and is to retaliate what the power-drunk PDP leadership deems to be the derring-do of our chairman to valiantly refute claims that he has defected to the PDP or pledged allegiance to their leader Senator Bukola Saraki. We wish to state that democracy means free choice and Kwara PDP should respect the democratic and fundamental rights of the Offa people to choose their political leaning without any witch-hunt!

"In removing the Offa chairman, the PDP is deploying the evil tactic of 'sacrificing the puns to get at the queen.' The plot is to hide under the so-called 'unauthorised' loan, obtained by at least 14 councils in Kwara to meet up with their obligations in view of the dwindling allocations to the councils, to get rid of the chairman in morbid show of crude power by the PDP. To give semblance of fair play in the attack targeted at ridding Kwara of opposition, our sources said the PDP is willing to sacrifice three of its own chairmen.

"We wish to say that the PDP should have the decency to wait until the expiration of the Offa chairman's tenure to test its popularity with the ever-conscious people of Offa. Resorting to this crude politics is the height of cowardice and we warn them against it. We call on all lovers of democracy to prevail on the leadership of the Kwara PDP to let peace reign and leave our chairman alone!

"This is a democratically-elected chairman for God's sake. Besides, the chairman is currently challenging at the Appeal Court a tribunal ruling which ordered a rerun ballot following a petition by PDP that it was not duly notified of the election date which held last year January."