A former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu has pleaded with a Bauchi High Court to allow him to settle out of court with Aliyu Ladan, who sued him over his reluctance to declare his intention to contest for the President in 2023 despite their “agreement”.

Recall that Ladan filed a suit with case number BA/331/2021 over an alleged breach of the agreement by Kalu, the Senator representing Abia North in the Senate, before Justice Mohammed Sambo at High Court 3 in Bauchi.

The counsel to the defendant, Mukhtar Usman, told journalists after the hearing that Kalu pleaded with the court for more time to enable him to settle the case out of court.

He said: “What happened today is that the matter came up the second time for hearing of the originating summons which was for interpretation of an agreement purportedly entered into by the plaintiff and the defendant which is to the effect that the defendant had purportedly agreed to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come 2023.

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“They came to get the order of the court compelling him to contest for the office of the President. So, today we announced to the court that the defendant proposed for the settlement of the matter out of court and the court agreed with us to take a date for us to be able to sit down and see if we can settle the matter amicably and we have been given 17th of February, 2022 for a report of settlement.”

Counsel to the plaintiff, Auwal Ibrahim said that his client was prepared for an out-of-court settlement if the defendant would declare his interest to become the president of the country.

“The bone of contention is based on the agreement or understanding our client has with the defendant, that is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, which he has not yet fulfilled.”