Peter Okoye, one half of the famous P-Square music group, on Monday told a Federal High Court in Lagos how his elder brother and former manager, Jude Okoye, allegedly mismanaged the group’s funds and diverted their royalties.
Jude is standing trial over alleged money laundering involving N1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.
He is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alongside his company, Northside Music Limited.
Justice Alexander Owoeye is handling the case in court. The trial was based on a petition filed by Peter himself.
While giving evidence in court, Peter said Jude used another company to secretly collect P-Square’s royalties. Led by the EFCC lawyer, Aso Larry, he explained that the problem started years back.
“P-Square started around 1997 or 1998,” Peter said. “Before Jude became our manager, we had others like Chioma Ugochi and the late Bayo Odusami. Jude came in as manager later, and we started using Northside Entertainment.”
Peter told the court that even as the group grew, Jude remained the only one who could sign off on money in their bank accounts, including Ecobank, Zenith, and FCMB.
“We had issues with the way he ran the business,” Peter added. “He was the only one signing money out of our accounts. Even when we were building houses in Ikoyi, I couldn’t access funds. When I asked about the house project, they said, ‘As you leave P-Square, you leave the money.’”
Peter explained that their lawyer at the time, Festus Keyamo, who is now the Minister of Aviation, tried to come up with a way to share the group’s money fairly. But the situation only got worse after the group split in 2017 and reunited in 2021.
According to him, after the reunion, Jude was no longer their manager. In 2022, Peter said he found out about a company called Northside Music Limited, which Jude used to collect their royalties without their knowledge.
He said he tried to get information from their banks but was blocked.
“The account officer at Zenith told me that Jude said not to give me any information,” he testified.
Peter also revealed that Jude and his twin brother, Paul, later gave their music catalogue to a company called Mad Solution, which paid Peter over $22,000 three months after signing a deal.
He said he later checked the Corporate Affairs Commission records and found that Jude and his wife owned Northside Music Limited.
According to Peter, Jude’s wife owns 80 per cent of the company, while Jude owns the remaining 20 per cent.
The trial continues as Peter and the EFCC try to prove that Jude used the company to wrongly collect and keep money that belonged to the group.
