Music star Peter Okoye, one half of the iconic duo P-Square, on Monday narrated to the Federal High Court in Lagos, how his older brother and former manager, Jude Okoye, secretly registered a new company in his wife’s name and used it to divert royalties belonging to the defunct music group, P-Square.
Jude Okoye is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a seven-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N1.38 bn, $1M, and £34,537.59, alongside his company, Northside Music Limited.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness, Peter revealed that Jude incorporated Northside Music Ltd, a name strikingly similar to their original company, Northside Entertainment Ltd, without informing him or his twin brother, Paul.
“I found out Jude had incorporated another company, Northside Music Ltd similar to our original Northside Entertainment Ltd and he was using it to collect our royalties.
“He and his wife are the only directors. She owns 80 per cent and he owns 20 per cent,” Peter testified.
Peter Okoye told the court that after P-Square disbanded in 2017 and reunited in 2021, he began discovering discrepancies in their financial dealings, particularly around royalty payments.
Led in evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s counsel, Aso Larry, Peter said this discovery came after years of being excluded from financial decisions and access to group accounts, all of which were under Jude’s control.
“He was the sole signatory to our accounts in Zenith Bank, Ecobank, and FCMB. I couldn’t even buy a phone without Jude’s permission,” he said.
“Sometimes in 2017, the group Psquare disbanded. We were apart for nearly five years. In November 2021, the group came back together,” Peter stated.
Peter told the court that when he tried to access backend reports and catalogues for P-Square’s music, Jude refused to share them. Even Paul, his twin brother, claimed not to know how the finances were being run.
The witness said he later discovered a company named Northside Music Limited.
“In late 2022, when someone wanted to acquire our albums, they asked for our statements of account. I realised I had no access to the ‘backend’, which is where digital revenue can be traced via aggregators like YouTube or iTunes,” he explained.
According to him, Jude refused to provide the backend information, prompting Peter to approach Paul, who reportedly responded, “You know I don’t know anything about that, but Jude…”
Peter said Jude later told him that his share of the money was with some people in South Africa, but Peter insisted he wasn’t asking for money, only for the backend and account details.
“I received no positive response,” he said.
He detailed how the group, which began around 1997–1998, had several managers before Jude took over, including Chioma Ugochi, who managed them through secondary school and university, and the late Bayo Odusami of Mbuntu Music, who managed them for five years.
“After that, my twin brother and I managed ourselves for a couple of months before we asked Jude to manage us under Northside Entertainment Ltd,” he said.
He added that when the group disbanded in 2017 and he went solo, funding for a joint house project in Ikoyi was suddenly cut off.
That’s when I went to our lawyer, Festus Keyamo (SAN), now Minister of Aviation, and told him I couldn’t even buy a phone without Jude’s approval.”
He mentioned that it was their lawyer, Keyamo, who advised them to establish a sharing formula.
“Jude controlled all the money. We were building houses, financed through Northside Entertainment Ltd. But when I left P-Square, they stopped funding my house. When I asked why, I was told, ‘As you leave P-Square, you leave the money.”
Peter said he contacted Zenith Bank’s account officer, who eventually told him Jude had instructed him not to send anything to him and that the only way he could get it was through the court.
He also discovered that the same aggregators managing Psquare’s catalogue were handling projects for Jude and Paul.
“When I started asking questions, they allowed me to give the catalogue to Mad Solutions. Three months after signing with them, I received over $22,000. When I asked if they had received their shares, I was told they had already been paid,” he stated.
Peter Okoye further told the court he had never heard of Northside Music before, and upon investigating on the Corporate Affairs Commission website, discovered the directors were Jude and his wife, with her owning 80 per cent of the shares.
He explained, “When I confronted Jude for the backend again, he said it would take three and a half months to retrieve the catalogue. When we finally received it, it showed no figures, only numbers. The aggregators said the backend had been tampered with, which affected its value. People who initially offered $8,000 were now only willing to offer $500.”
Peter also said a manhandling their tax affairs visited his home, claiming Jude should only pay around N2m. “He also said Jude had shown that we hadn’t performed since the split, but when I checked the Access Bank statements from January to December 2017, they were all from aggregators,” he said.
The witness told the court that following these discoveries, he contacted his lawyer, identified as Afolabi, who then petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The case has been adjourned to 4 June for cross-examination.
The Punch
