Makinde spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, while
addressing the delegates at the PDP convention holding at the Lekan Salami
Stadium, Adamasingba.

In recent months, some allies of Nyesom Wike, minister of
the federal capital territory (FCT), approached the court to stop the
convention, resulting in a series of conflicting rulings on the matter.

The latest ruling came on Friday, when a federal high court
sitting in Abuja, the nation’s capital, restrained the PDP from holding the
event over the exclusion of Sule Lamido, the former governor of Jigawa, from
the chairmanship race.

The order followed a similar ruling last month. On October
31, James Omotosho, a judge of the Abuja federal high court, stopped the PDP
from going ahead with the convention.

However, on November 4, the Oyo state high court ordered the
PDP and Umar Damagum, the party’s national chairman, to proceed with the
convention.

Speaking at the event, Makinde acknowledged the “long
stretch of battle” to hold the convention, adding that the decision made will
change the party’s trajectory.

“It has been a long stretch of battle to get to this point.
Despite all odds, this convention will go down as a turning point for the party
nationally,” he said.