In a courtroom appearance Friday at the Lagos State High Court, popular Nigerian musician Peter Okoye (known professionally as Mr P) testified against his elder brother and former P-Square manager, Jude Chigozie Okoye, who faces serious fraud allegations.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented Peter as its first prosecution witness in a case involving the alleged theft of $1 million and £34,537. Jude Okoye and his company, Northside Music Ltd., face a four-count charge before Justice Rahman Oshodi.
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During his testimony, Peter Okoye revealed surprising details about Northside Music Ltd.’s ownership structure.
“Upon various investigations carried out by the Commission, it was discovered that Jude’s wife, Ifeoma, is the owner of the company because she owns 80 percent shares, while Jude retains the remaining 20 percent,” Peter told the court.
The case stems from Peter’s petition to the EFCC filed on January 22, 2024. According to his testimony, the Commission’s investigation uncovered “over 47 bank accounts used by Jude to receive royalties.”
In a notable revelation, Peter stated, “Jude never denied that he committed the crime.”
The witness also described a confrontation at the EFCC office where his twin brother Paul allegedly claimed “our elder brother owns P-Square” with a 40 percent stake, while the twins each held 30 percent.
The court heard that P-Square began their music career in 1999, establishing Northside Entertainment Ltd. between 2005 and 2006, with both twins as directors and shareholders. However, Peter testified that Jude was “the sole signatory to the company’s three accounts” and “the sole manager of all the accounts.”
“In September 2017, P-Square broke up, and we came back together in November 2021,” Peter explained. “Within the period, I never received any royalties paid into our company.”
After the breakup, Peter went solo as Mr P with a different manager. He later discovered “a similar company was run by our brother known as Northside Music.”
The singer described how this affected potential business deals: “When I went for a tour in London, some individuals approached us if we would like to sell our catalogs, but they needed to see the backend. After so much attempt to get the back-end from Jude, I discovered that he had tampered with the original one, which made over seven companies to have a rethink of purchasing the catalogs.”
Peter also testified that he “was not aware when Northside Music was registered,” but his investigations revealed it “was registered in 2015 and had been operating illegally two years prior to our break-up.”
The prosecution successfully entered Peter’s petition into evidence without objection from defence counsel Clement Onwuenwunor, SAN.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case until May 23 for a continuation of the trial.
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