Action Congress (AC) has called for an immediate halt to what it called the waste of public funds on luxurious items by the leadership of the House of Representatives at a time millions of Nigerians are struggling to make ends meet and the state of the country‘s infrastructure is worsening.

In a statement issued in Abuja Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also called for a thorough probe of the recent allegations of corruption levelled against the house leadership over the purchase of cars and office equipment.

“First is the alleged fraud surrounding the purchase of Peugeot cars from PAN at a cost of N2.3 billion by the leadership of the House of Representatives. Now we are hearing that another 3.4 billion naira has been expended on state-of-the-art vehicles and office equipment by the same leadership.”

“It is really sickening, saddening and stinky to spend N1.9 billion naira on cars for the Speaker and his Deputy, and expend the balance of N1.5 billion on the purchase of office equipment, as has been widely reported.

“Also stomach-churning are details of the expenditure: purchase of three bullet-proof Mercedes Benz jeeps for the Speaker and his deputy at a cost of 158.4 million two bullet-proof Range Rover for N114 million and another N30 million Range Rover for the House Leader, just to mention a few.

“It is now obvious that the tough times being faced by Nigerians do not extend to the National Assembly. It is also clear that Nigerian public office holders are not impressed by the global financial crisis which has forced governments around the world to be prudent.”

“What matters to these people, who have turned themselves to leeches, is their comfort, even if most of their compatriots are surviving on a mere US$1 per day!’’ AC said.

The party said while the security of the House Leadership is of paramount importance, it is sheer wastage for every Speaker or his deputy to embark on a shopping spree for state-of-the-art vehicles, at a huge cost to tax payers, under the guise of security.

It is even more so, AC said, when these lawmakers have not done anything in their almost two years in office to improve the welfare of those who voted them into office.