The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the Federal Government’s claim that it disbursed ₦330 billion to poor Nigerians under the National Cash Transfer Programme, demanding the publication of beneficiaries’ names.
The government had recently stated that millions of citizens were lifted out of poverty through social safety-net schemes coordinated by the National Social Safety-net Coordinating Office (NASSCO).
Speaking in Abuja, NLC Acting General Secretary, Comrade Benson Upah, questioned the transparency of the initiative and called for verifiable evidence to support the government’s pronouncements.
“They should let them line up. In advanced economies, if you say you have created social jobs, you show the jobs. It’s not that you just go to the media and say you have created social jobs, they will check. So, we want to see the beneficiaries,” he said.
Upah warned against what he described as “banditry with statistics,” accusing government agencies of rolling out unverifiable poverty-alleviation figures.
“When you say you have lifted millions of people, where are they? Where are the people you have given so much to? They should publish the recipients,” he added.
The NLC leader maintained that Nigerians are highly enlightened and deserve accountability, stressing that releasing the full list of recipients would help restore public confidence in the Federal Government’s anti-poverty agenda.
He further argued that many Nigerians still doubt the impact of the scheme, insisting it has done little to cushion the effects of inflation and the rising cost of living.