AKURE – Campaign for Democ­racy (CD) has told the Federal Government to think out of the box in finding solutions to econom­ic challenges in the country rather than focusing on fuel subsidy removal.

It cautioned that mass pro­test would be inevitable when­ever the Federal Government decided to remove the fuel subsidy, which it stated would invariably lead to increase in pump price.

This was contained in a statement signed by the group’s General Secretary, Pastor If­eanyi Odili and made available to Saturday INDEPENDENT in Akure, Ondo State capital.

According to the statement, “It could not be overemphasised that hunger and mass poverty had brought serious pains and havoc on Nigerians, which we feel that government should show concern about, but rather, it prefers to unleash more pains on the citizenry.

“To be frank with the gov­ernment, we will mobilise Ni­gerians to vehemently oppose any future plans by govern­ment of Nigeria to inflict more pains on the people.

“We want to assert here that it is sad to note that democra­cy has in Nigeria disappointed majority of Nigerian people.

“It is also sad that most of us who engaged the military dictators eye ball to eye ball have been disappointed with the handling of democracy. It is regrettable that the current pilots of Nigeria’s affairs are worse than the soldiers we sent away in terms of corrup­tion, insensitivity to our plights and wickedness, nepotism, and brutal display of executive ras­cality.

“Above all, CD noted that a major threat to our national life is the organisation within the Federal structure called Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) under the leadership of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State.

“While Nigerian masses are struggling to survive, NGF was busy planning another hard­ship on Nigerians by propos­ing to the Federal Government another wicked and killing fuel price.

“The CD vows to personally hold the governors responsi­ble in their respective states anytime a dime is added to the price of fuel. We would turn the masses against them in their re­spective states.

The group, therefore, called on Nigerians “to be on guard and wait for a clarion call from the Campaign for Democracy CD in the advent of govern­ment pronouncement of fur­ther hardship via fuel price hike.”