By Camillus Eboh

The widely expected defeat for opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar means there is no further challenge to President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection. The 76-year-old former military ruler first took office as an elected leader in 2015.

The tribunal rejected all three of Atiku’s claims: that the election was marred by irregularities, that he received more votes than Buhari and that the president did not have a secondary school certificate, a basic requirement to contest the election.

“This petition is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba said in announcing the ruling. All five judges who presided over the tribunal rejected Atiku’s claims.

Every election result has been contested unsuccessfully since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, with the exception of the 2015 poll in which Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to Buhari.

Buhari took 56% of the vote against 41% for Atiku, the electoral commission said in February, but on a turnout of just 35.6% compared with 44% in 2015.

Atiku rejected the result hours after Buhari was declared the victor and said he would mount a legal challenge.

“It is time for the country to move forward as one cohesive body, putting behind us all bickering and potential distractions over an election in which Nigerians spoke clearly and resoundingly,” said Buhari in a statement on Wednesday following the tribunal’s ruling.

The presidential election had run into problems with smart-card readers used to authenticate voters’ fingerprints, which delayed voting in some areas.

International observers did not dispute Buhari’s victory but said the conduct of the election was widely flawed.

In its assessment, the European Union observer mission said Nigeria’s elections needed serious reform after being marred by violence, systemic failings and low turnout. It referred to both the presidential election and nationwide voting a few weeks later to elect powerful state governors. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh, additional reporting by Felix Onuah, writing by Libby George and Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Chris Reese, Giles Elgood and Bernadette Baum)