The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has tackled the Federal Government over its claim that it paid N330 billion under the National Cash Transfer Programme to poor Nigerians.

NLC challenged the FG to publish names of the beneficiaries.

NLC made the demand after official claimed that millions of citizens have been lifted out of poverty through social safety net schemes managed by the National Social Safety-net Coordinating Office (NASSCO).

Speaking in Abuja, the NLC’s Acting General Secretary, Comrade Benson Upah, questioned the transparency of the initiative, insisting that government pronouncements must be backed with verifiable evidence.

“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,” Upah said.

He warned against what he described as “banditry with statistics,” accusing government agencies of rolling out poverty-alleviation figures without proof.

The NLC leader stressed that Nigerians are not gullible and deserve credible accountability.

“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 demanded.

Upah added, “If we have to copy, let us copy wisely and intelligently, because for every activity, there is an audience, and the Nigerian audience is not a stupid audience; it is highly enlightened, I tell you.”

Upah maintained that releasing the list of recipients would help restore public confidence in the Federal Government’s anti-poverty agenda.

He noted that many Nigerians still doubt the impact of the scheme, arguing that it has done little to cushion the effects of inflation and the rising cost of living.