There were strong indications last night that between 12 and 15 ex-ministers will join President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet.

It was learnt that the ex-ministers’ names are on the list which was reportedly submitted to Senate President, Ahmed  Lawan, on Wednesday.

The President is said to have decided to retain some of the ex-ministers on merit.

Those speculated to be on the list last night are ex-Ministers of Justice and AGF, Abubakar Malami ( SAN); Adamu Adamu( Education); Hadi Sirika ( Aviation); Zainab Ahmed (Finance); Aisha Abubakar (Women Affairs); Lai Mohammed ( Information); Babatunde Fashola (Works, Power and Housing); Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation); Mohammed Musa Bello( FCT); Suleiman Adamu Kazaure (Water Resources); Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology); Solomon Dalung (Sports and Youths Development) and others.

Although Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, former Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Niyi Adebayo (Ekiti) and Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos) were also being speculated last night to have made the list, none of the sources could confirm such speculations.

The sources confirmed that some ex-ministers, such as Adebayo Shittu (Communications) and Okechukwu Enelamah (Trade and Industry) lost the battle to return to the cabinet.

A government source said: “I know that the two women ex-ministers are returning to the cabinet. We have a few others who have really added value that the President will be retaining.

“It is not a total overhaul, which you are anticipating. What the President promised was to leave sustainable legacies in his second term.”

As of press time, it was difficult to ascertain whether or not the President of the Senate has received the Ministerial list.

A Principal Officer of the National Assembly said “Lawan dropped a hint that he will receive the list on Wednesday”.

Another source said: “I think the list is already with the Senate President and some officers but they said it will not be made public until Thursday.”

A source in the Presidency simply said: “All things being equal, the Senate will receive the list on Thursday morning.