A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode, has reacted to the derecognition of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership involving Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Fani-Kayode, in a post on X on Thursday, mocked members and leaders of the opposition party, describing the development as a major setback for their political ambitions.

“Given the fact that they have been affected by the decisions of the courts and INEC and they no longer have a party and platform to stand and run on… who are the ones that have been rejected now?” he wrote.

He added that the party had suffered multiple setbacks in recent times.

“They have been rejected by the courts, rejected by INEC, rejected by their original founders and rejected by the Nigerian people,” he said.

The former minister further questioned the ADC’s readiness for future elections, suggesting the party should focus on rebuilding.

“May I suggest that they channel all their energy to building up and forming a real opposition party over the next five years and then field a candidate for the 2031 presidential election? Given the circumstances, that is their best bet because 2027 is already lost to them,” he stated.

Fani-Kayode also maintained that the ADC deserved the crisis it’s going through because its leaders only “lament from morning till night without offering any concrete solutions.”

“This is what happens when all you do is pose for group shots, talk balderdash on television, contract an army of malignant and malevolent trolls on social media, employ the services of leporous and incompetent spokesmen, contract rag sheets to spread lies and fake news, rely on your foreign friends to bring carnage and destruction and destabilise our country and lament from morning till night without offering any concrete solutions. Frankly they got what they deserved,” he said.

INEC’s removal of Mark and Aregbesola from its portal as national chairman and national secretary of the ADC, respectively, following its interpretation of a Court of Appeal ruling on the party’s leadership dispute continues to spark reactions from Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the ADC said the commission announced the development on Wednesday, over 40,000 Nigerians have joined the party.