The last of the petitions to be thrown out was that of Joshua Osih, the candidate of the main opposition party SDF. He wanted the whole election cancelled on the grounds that voting did not take place in the English-speaking regions as a result of the secessionist uprising there.

Mr Osih said it would be a form of “apartheid” if the president were to be voted in without the participation of parts of the country.

While the council thought the complaint had some merit, it was thrown out for lack of evidence.

The same argument was used to dismiss the petition from ex-government minister Maurice Kamto, President Paul Biya’s main challenger.

With all petitions dismissed, the constitutional council is now set to declare the final results of the election by 22 October.

The electoral code requires that results are announced within 15 days of the vote.

The president-elect will be sworn in within 15 days after the results are announced.

President Biya, in power for 36 years and seeking a seventh term, is largely expected to win, and this would make him Africa’s longest serving leader, after Equatorial Guinea’s Obiang Nguema.