A final ruling by Nigeria's Supreme Court put an end to a legal challenge by President Bola Tinubu's rivals to annul his election victory. Now Tinubu has a clear mandate to govern Africa's most populous nation.

Nigeria's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the election victory of President Bola Tinubu, ending a legal challenge by his two main rivals.

Atiku Abubaka from the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party's Peter Obi argued Tinubu's victory was marred by irregularities.

"There is no merit in this appeal, and it is hereby dismissed," Supreme Court judge John Okoro said.

The ruling by seven Supreme Court judges, which is final,is in line with previous presidential elections that have been challenged in court.

Nigeria has a history of legal challenges to election results, but the Supreme Court has never overturned a presidential election..

Failed attempts to challenge election results

Now the 71-year-old Tinubu has a clear mandate to govern Africa's most populous nation, which is grappling with double-digit inflation, a foreign currency shortages and a weakening naira, widespread insecurity and crude oil theft.

A former governor of Lagos, Tinubu won 37 percent of the vote in February, one of the closest elections in Nigeria's modern history.

Abubakar and Obi rejected the result and called for Tinubu's victory to be overturned.

However, an election appeals court dismissed as unfounded last month the petitions of the two main opposition parties, which alleged fraud, violations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and failure to meet constitutional requirements.

The two opposition leaders then appealed the judgment that endorsed Tinubu's victory.

dh/lo (AFP, Reuters)