(Bloomberg) -- Ten Nigerian cabinet members resigned to run for political office in compliance with an order from President Muhammadu Buhari. 

The ministers will be replaced without delay, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said at a media briefing in the capital, Abuja. Buhari had directed all cabinet ministers that intended to run in national elections next February to resign from their posts by May 16 to ensure they didn’t unfairly benefit from their government positions.

Those who quit include Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi; Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, the minister of state for education; Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs; Ogbonnaya Onu, minister of science and technology; and Timipre Sylva, the deputy minister for petroleum. Minister of Justice and Attorney General Abubakar Malami also resigned. 

Mohammed said he didn’t have any information on the status of central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, who has also declared his intention to run.

Almost 50 candidates, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Senate President Ahmed Lawan, have indicated their interest in running for president on the tickets of the two main parties, the All Progressives Congress and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party. Osinbajo and Lawan are exempted from the resignation order as they aren’t political appointees.  

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