On Monday, April 14, 2025, Peter Obumneme Okoye, one half of the renowned music duo P-Square, testified against his elder brother and former manager, Jude Chigozie Okoye, in a case of alleged financial misappropriation.
Peter appeared as the first prosecution witness (PW1) for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice A. Owoeye at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos. Jude Okoye and his company, Northside Music Limited, are facing a seven-count charge bordering on money laundering involving N1.38 billion.
One of the charges states that in 2022, Jude and his company allegedly acquired a property worth ₦850 million at No. 5 Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, using funds suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity. Jude pleaded not guilty when arraigned on February 26, 2025.
During his testimony, Peter identified Jude as both his elder brother and the former manager of the P-Square group. He recounted how the music duo, which started in 1997, disbanded in 2017 before reuniting in November 2021.
Peter explained that before Jude took over as manager, P-Square was managed by several individuals, including Chioma Ugochi during their school days, and the late Bayo Odusami of Mbuntu Music for five years. Later, Peter and his twin brother Paul briefly managed themselves before bringing Jude on board, along with Northside Entertainment Limited.
He alleged persistent disputes over how Jude handled the group’s finances, especially the fact that Jude was the sole signatory to all their business bank accounts in Ecobank, Zenith Bank, and FCMB. Peter claimed he had no access to these accounts and was forced to seek legal advice from Festus Keyamo (SAN), now the Minister of Aviation, to push for a fair revenue-sharing formula.
Peter detailed a specific instance when Northside Entertainment stopped funding his house construction in Ikoyi for six months. When he sought clarification, he said Jude and Paul responded, “If you leave P-Square, you leave the money.” This prompted him to approach Keyamo again.
He said the group’s earnings were kept in accounts controlled solely by Jude and that he only discovered the existence of a similar company, Northside Music Limited, in 2022. While negotiating with parties interested in acquiring their music catalogue, Peter requested account statements and access to backend earnings data—information typically handled by aggregators—but was denied access by Jude.
When Peter confronted Paul about this, he claimed Paul dismissed his concerns and deferred to Jude. Eventually, Peter managed to transfer the music catalogue to Mad Solutions, a move which soon yielded over $22,000 in revenue. This revealed to him that Jude and Paul had also been receiving payments without his knowledge.
Upon investigating further, Peter discovered through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) that Northside Music Limited was owned by Jude and his wife, with her holding 80% of the shares. He also discovered irregularities in the backend data provided—figures were missing or altered, significantly reducing the catalogue’s market value.
He claimed that when potential buyers noticed discrepancies in the backend, a deal originally worth $8,000 dropped below $500. Peter then brought the matter to Paul, who allegedly dismissed the situation and told him to “do your worst.”
A tax officer named Emmanuel later informed Peter that Jude had claimed the group hadn’t performed since the split, but bank statements from 2017 showed that aggregators were still making payments to their Access Bank account. This led Peter to contact his lawyer, Afolabi, who subsequently reported the case to the EFCC.
The case has been adjourned until June 4, 2025, for cross-examination.
