The rift among the Okoye brothers Peter, Paul, and Jude of the P-Square fame has taken a dramatic turn, as Peter Okoye testified against his elder brother and former manager, Jude Okoye, over an alleged ₦1.38 billion fraud.
Appearing before Justice A. Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, Peter accused Jude and his company, Northside Music Limited, of mismanaging group funds and tampering with royalty payments. The case was initially reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by Peter through his lawyer, Afolabi I.
According to EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, Jude Okoye is facing a seven-count charge bordering on money laundering and fraud. One of the charges reads:
“That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Limited, sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did directly acquire a landed property known as No 5, Tony Eromosele Street Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos worth ₦850,000,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty Million Naira only), which money you knew or reasonably ought to have known form part of proceeds of unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2) (d) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
Jude pleaded “not guilty” to all charges upon his arraignment on February 26, 2025.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Aso Larry Peters, Peter recounted the group’s journey and the financial conflicts that followed.
“The group, P-Square started sometime in 1997. But in 2017, it was disbanded. We stayed apart for about five years. But in November 2021, the group came back.
“Before Jude became our Manager, we had several managers, including Chioma Ugochi, who managed us when we were in the secondary school and in the University; and the late Bayo Odusami of Mbuntu music, who managed us for five years.
“Thereafter, my twin brother and I managed the band for a couple of months before we decided that he (Jude) would manage us and Northside Entertainment Limited.”
Despite the agreement, Peter said there were long standing issues with how Jude managed the group’s finances.
“So, we continued running our business. But we were always having issues about how he was running the business. The issues were mainly about the fact that he was the sole signatory to all our bank accounts in Ecobank, Zenith and FCMB.
“These issues lasted for a couple of months. I didn’t have access to the accounts until the current Minister of Aviation, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, who was our lawyer, said we needed a sharing formula.”
Peter also narrated a specific incident involving their real estate projects in Ikoyi.
“The funding of the house project was by Northwest Entertainment Ltd. But they just stopped financing my house for six months.
“The accounts were owned by the company, while Jude was the only signatory to all the accounts. At some point, I approached him and my twin brother, Paul, to know why they stopped financing my project. But what I heard from them was ‘As you leave P-square, you leave the money’.
“With that comment, I had to approach our lawyer, Keyamo.
“All our money is in Northside Entertainment, and he is the sole signatory.”
Things became even more complicated in 2022 when potential buyers showed interest in acquiring P-Square’s music catalogue.
“Along the line, I discovered that there’s a company similar to ours, Northside Music Limited.
“In 2022, I discovered this when some people wanted to acquire our albums. These individuals demanded our statements of account to know how much the albums were generating monthly. The reason is that I didn’t have access to ‘backend’, which could be traced through a Northside account and through the aggregators… I then demanded that I wanted to know the backend. But he refused.”
Peter said attempts to get clarity from his twin brother, Paul, were unfruitful.
“Then, I went to my twin brother, Paul, who replied thus: ‘You know, I don’t know anything about it, but Jude.’
“When I suggested we go to see him, he said he would go and meet him, so I left him.”
Even after follow-ups, the situation remained unresolved.
“Thereafter, I approached Jude again. He told me that my share of the money was with some people in South Africa. I told him I was not asking for money, but the backend and the statements of the account. But there was no positive response.”
Peter recounted contacting the banks directly but was met with roadblocks.
“The account officer at the Zenith Bank later told me that Jude told him not to send it to me. The officer added that the only way I could get it was through the court.”
After discovering that aggregators managing P-Square’s catalogue were the same as those handling their individual music, Peter took steps to redirect the catalogue rights.
“I, however, discovered that the aggregators handling P-square’s Music Company were the same persons handling Paul and Peter. So, I approached Paul and told him to give them the albums of P-Square. But Jude and Paul were not comfortable with that.”
Eventually, he received consent to work with a new company.
“Three months after, I received over $22,000 USD. I was also told that both Jude and Paul had been paid.”
Peter further revealed the shock of discovering Northside Music Limited, entirely owned by Jude and his wife.
“Until I called, I did not have an idea of a company called Northside music… When I approached Paul if he knew about Northside Music, he said I should check the album by Cynthia Morgan, who was then Jude’s artiste.
“When I checked Cynthia Morgan’s album, it was Northside Incorporation and not Northside Music. I then approached Jude for the same backend. He told me that it was going to take three and half months to retrieve the catalogue.
“And then forwarded the catalogue to me. My new management now sent it to people who wanted to buy it.”
However, the backend data had allegedly been manipulated.
“By the time it was sent to me, it only bore numbers and not figures.
“They responded that the backend had been tampered with, which suggested that the people who offered $8000 USD could not offer $500 USD, owing to the fact that the numbers had reduced.
“I went to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) site, and discovered that the Directors of Northside Music were Jude Okoye and his wife. I also discovered that Jude’s wife owned 80%, while Jude owned 20%.”
Peter concluded that he later found bank statements showing aggregators were paying into an Access Bank account in 2017.
“On the backend, I was unable to get anything because it had been tampered with. One of those interested in buying the catalogue came to my house and invited Paul. But his response was that ‘I know Peter has told you this… When he came back after an hour, he told me that he was tired of all this and that I could do my worst.’
“But when I checked the statements of accounts from January 1, to December 2017, I discovered that those who paid money to the Access Bank account were the aggregators.”
As the court proceedings continue, the case promises more revelations from one of Nigeria’s most iconic music families.
