Nigeria's Supreme Court on Friday threw out a series of attempts to overturn the results of last year's governorship elections, dealing a blow to the president's party in several states.

Governors are powerful figures in Nigeria where polls are fiercely contested, and the results often face legal challenges right up to the Supreme Court.

The nation's top court ruled in favour of governors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in three states, other opposition parties in two, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party nationally, in three, according to an AFP journalist.

In the key northern state of Kano, New Nigeria People's Party governor Abba Kabir Yusuf was reinstated after the Supreme Court overruled a lower court verdict that had sided with the APC and led to his removal from office.

There had been fears of clashes, but instead there were celebrations in the streets as the court backed Yusuf, with jubilant residents performing tricks on motorbikes.

The Supreme Court ruling represents its final major decision on last year's elections.

In October the court validated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's election victory and dismissed the opposition's appeal against his mandate.

Most Nigerian elections have ended up in legal battles since Africa's most populous nation emerged from military rule in 1999, but the Supreme Court has never overturned a presidential election.