Gabon’s military leader Brice Oligui Nguema will face three challengers including a former prime minister in the west African country’s April 12 presidential election, according to the candidate list published Sunday.

Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, the last premier under ousted ex-president Ali Bongo Ondimba, is considered the strongest potential opponent to Oligui, who led the military coup that ended 55 years of Bongo family rule.

Lawyer and tax inspector Joseph Lapensee Essingone and doctor Stephane Germain Iloko Boussengui round out the final candidates list.

Interior Minister Hermann Immongault told reporters that 23 Gabonese had presented their candidacy, with only four “deemed admissible”.

Immongault did not detail the reasons for the 19 rejections, which include leading trade unionist and senator Jean-Remy Yama.

All those whose candidacies have been rejected have the right to appeal to the country’s constitutional court.

Oligui, who announced on March 3 that he would run for president, had pledged to hand the reins of power in the oil-rich nation back to civilians.

But a new electoral code rubber-stamped by the transitional parliament in late January allowed army officers to stand for election, paving the way for his presidential tilt.

When filing his candidacy on Saturday, Oligui said that he had his request to abandon his general’s uniform for the election period — as required by procedure — granted by the ministry of defence.

“I am fit to enter politics and even hold the supreme office,” he told reporters.

He said he would be running “as an independent” as “there is no reason to create a party”.

Campaigning is scheduled to begin on March 29.

No date for a potential second round in the event of a run-off was specified in a decree setting out the electoral timetable.