The legal drama involving Jude Chigozie Okoye, elder brother and former manager of the music duo P-Square, continued at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on Friday, with the first prosecution witness confirming a critical detail about the ownership of the company at the heart of the fraud allegations.
NAIJAONPOINT , Peter Okoye (also known as Mr. P), testified that the defendant’s wife owns a controlling interest in Northside Music Limited, the company through which funds were allegedly diverted.
Jude Okoye, along with his company, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a four-count charge bordering on the theft of over $1 million in royalties and funds.
During the resumed trial before Justice Rahman Oshodi, defence counsel Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN) confronted Peter Okoye (PW1) with the company’s statements of account.
The PW1 insisted that the accounts belonged to the joint interests of the P-Square brothers, stating: “These statements of account belong to me and my brother. We are P-Square. The company belongs to Peter and Paul. It was registered by him. I reported to the EFCC when I discovered funds were being diverted, and EFCC brought the matter to court.”
Peter Okoye then confirmed a pivotal point in the prosecution’s case: the defendant’s wife owns 800,000 shares in Northside Music Limited. This confirms earlier reports alleging that the company was set up by Jude Okoye and his wife to allegedly siphon the group’s earnings.
The defence counsel attempted to tender documents attached to the original petition submitted to the EFCC, arguing they were vital to their case.
However, the prosecution counsel, M. K. Bashir, objected, stating that the documents were merely copies stamped as Certified True Copies (CTC) and were not attached to the main petition or in “proper legal form.”
In a short ruling, Justice Oshodi rejected the documents, holding that despite originating from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and being in the EFCC’s custody, they did not meet the court’s admissibility requirements.
NAIJAONPOINT also confirmed that he wrote a statement at the EFCC following the submission of the petition by his lawyer.
The matter has been adjourned till February 20 and 27, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.
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