Nigeria's Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday submitted his list of nominees for a new cabinet to the Senate for approval.

Jonathan sacked all government ministers last Wednesday in a bid to assert his authority a month after assuming executive powers and the fast appointment of a new team could enable him to move forward more quickly with reforms.

"The list of the ministerial nominees has been submitted to the Senate for their confirmation," one presidency source said, adding it was a complete list that included some former ministers from the outgoing cabinet.

A Senate source confirmed that Senate President David Mark had received the list. The Senate is expected to consider the nominees on Wednesday.

Jonathan took over as acting head of state in early February, ending months of near-paralysis in government due to the absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who was receiving treatment for a heart ailment in a Saudi clinic.

Yar'Adua has since returned to Nigeria but remains too sick to govern. Sources in the presidency say he is in a mobile intensive care unit and Jonathan has been unable to see him.

Choosing a new cabinet which retains a large number of ministers suggests Nigeria's broad policy direction is unlikely to change and could let Jonathan push ahead more authoritatively with his agenda in the 14 months left of this presidential term.

Presidency sources have said former Minister of State for Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia is likely to be nominated as the new oil minister in the OPEC member nation while outgoing Defence Minister Godwin Abbe, who has overseen an amnesty programme in the oil-producing Niger Delta, may be re-appointed.

Reuters