The ongoing legal tussle at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) may have decided the nominees that made the ministerial list submitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.

Inquiries by Political Economist NG among top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) showed that several permutations were made to arrive at the final list of the first batch of 28 ministerial nominees.

Top among the criteria is the anticipation that the PECP may order a rerun election to determine the winner of the Presidential election given what an APC top cat described as ‘preponderance of evidence” that may warrant nullification of the presidential poll.

“There is a strong hint among some of us that even though the APC/Tinubu-Shettima legal team has put up a compelling defence, worst case scenario would be a rerun poll ordered by the court. When that happens, there would be an overriding need to get a buy-in of former governors and some political heavyweights in all the states. This played a role in arriving at the composition of the list,” a source told Political Economist NG reporter.

The list had four immediate past governors namely; David Umahi (Ebonyi), Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), and Nyesom Wike (Rivers).

Political patronage was said to have played a key role in the inclusion of these ex-governors as they were said to have made tremendous sacrifices for APC and Tinubu during the Presidential election. With over a dozen more ministers yet to be nominated, our source said more former governors will still make the list.

The nominees are:

Abubakar Momoh

Yusuf Maitama

Architect Ahmed Dangiwa

Hannatu Musawa

Uche Nnaji

Beta Edu

Doris Aniete Uzoaka

David Umahi

Ezenwo Wike

Mohammed Badaru Abubakar

Nasir el Rufai

Ekperikpe Ekpo

Nkiru Onyejeocha

Olubunmi Tunji Ojo

Stella Okotete

Uju Keneddy Ohaneye

Bello Mohammed Goronyo

Dele Alake

Lateef Fagbemi

Mohammed Idris

Olawale Edun

Waheed Adebayo Adelabu

Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim

Prof. Ali Pate

Joseph Otsen

Sen. Abubakar Kyari

Sen. John Eno

Sen. Sani Abubakar