Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan

AFP - Nigeria’s Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out a challenge to President Goodluck Jonathan’s electoral victory in April alleging irregularities and seeking a re-run.

“This appeal lacks merit and it is accordingly dismissed,” said Judge Olufunmilayo Adekeye, who read out the decision of the seven-member Supreme Court.

The opposition Congress for Progressive Change had alleged irregularities in the conduct of the poll and sought its cancellation to pave the way for a re-run. The CPC’s candidate, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, came second.

Buhari, military ruler from January 1984 to August 1985, called the court’s ruling “politically motivated.”

“This decision of the Supreme Court is politically motivated and it has little judicial content,” he said outside the court.

Nigeria’s April presidential election was judged by observers to be a major improvement over previous polls that had been wracked by violence and fraud, though significant problems remain.

The vote also exposed Nigeria’s deep ethnic and religious divisions, with Buhari, a Muslim from the north, winning support across much of that region.

Jonathan, a Christian from the oil-producing Niger Delta, dominated in his native south.

Three days of rioting across the north after the election left some 800 people dead.

Fears have again been raised over the country’s divisions in recent days, with a wave of attacks on Christmas blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram sparking fears of renewed sectarian violence.