THE Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has rejected a plan by electricity distribution companies to declare political force majeure. Investopedia describes Force majeure as a French term literally translated as “greater force”, this clause is included in contracts to remove liability for natural and unavoidable catastrophes that interrupt the expected course of events and restrict participants from fulfilling obligations. The distribution companies had written to the BPE about their decision to declare force majeure following the policy directive on Eligible Customers and the Eligible Customer Regulations by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). However, Director General of the privatisation agency, Mr Alex Okoh has said that there is no basis for the issuance of notice to declare force majeure by the electricity distribution companies (Discos). As such, he rejected the notice to declare force majeure by the Discos.

Source: Nigerian Tribune November 21, 2017 19:14 UTC