One half of the defunct music duo P-Square, Peter Okoye, also known as Mr P, on Friday admitted before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja that he is a co-signatory to the Northside Entertainment Limited bank account—contrary to his earlier testimony that his elder brother, Jude Okoye, was the sole signatory.
Peter made the admission while testifying before Justice Rahman Oshodi in the ongoing trial of Jude, who is facing charges of alleged $1 million theft brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Earlier in the proceedings, Peter had told the court that Jude solely controlled the company’s accounts and financial dealings. However, during cross-examination, defence counsel Clement Onwuewunor (SAN) confronted him with bank mandates indicating that Peter and his twin brother, Paul, were also signatories to the account.
When asked to explain his earlier claim that a bank had informed him he was only a shareholder and not a signatory, Peter said the information was obtained during a phone conversation with officials of what he described as a “new bank.”
“My Lord, the information I got was from a phone conversation with officials of the new bank,” he said.
But when specifically asked about the Northside Entertainment Limited account with Ecobank, the singer admitted, “My Lord, I am a co-signatory to the Northside Entertainment Limited account in Ecobank.”
Peter sought to clarify the apparent contradiction, explaining that Jude initially operated the account alone before later adding him and Paul as signatories.
“From the very onset, Jude was the only signatory. But after some years, he made myself and Paul signatories. Despite that, I never personally signed cheques or carried out transactions,” he said.
During cross-examination, Peter also reaffirmed that the P-Square music catalogue belongs exclusively to him and his twin brother, excluding Jude.
“The catalogue is the collection of songs we produced over the years,” he explained, adding that the duo released about six albums with between 10 and 15 tracks each, amounting to nearly 100 songs.
Peter further told the court that Jude was not an original member of the group but later joined as manager around 2004 or 2005, after they had worked with other managers. He admitted there was no written contract or formal letter of employment documenting his appointment.
When the defence suggested that the singers were merely the public faces of the group while Jude played a more substantive behind-the-scenes role, Peter rejected the claim.
“We all started together as students. We had several managers before Jude. The success of P-Square was built by me and my twin brother from the beginning,” he said.
The witness also confirmed that the brothers registered companies to manage their music business, including Northside Entertainment Limited as a management company and Square Records Limited as a record label. He acknowledged that Jude held about 40 per cent of the shares in Northside Entertainment Limited, while he held about 30 per cent, though he said he could not vouch for the exact figures.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case until May 15, 2026, for continuation of the trial.
