‘I Couldn’t Even Buy A Phone Without His Permission’ — Peter Okoye Tells Court About Jude’s Financial Control

Popular musician Peter Okoye, one half of the defunct music group P-Square, has narrated before the Federal High Court in Lagos how his elder brother and former manager, Jude Okoye, allegedly redirected the group’s earnings by secretly establishing a new company in his wife’s name.

Naijaonpoint reports that Jude Okoye is currently facing a seven-count money laundering charge alongside his firm, Northside Music Limited, brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The case involves alleged illicit financial dealings amounting to ₦1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.

Peter, appearing as the prosecution’s first witness, alleged that Jude created a company—Northside Music Ltd—closely resembling their original enterprise, Northside Entertainment Ltd, without disclosing this to either 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.

He told the court that after P-Square’s breakup in 2017 and their reunion in 2021, he began uncovering irregularities, particularly in relation to how their royalties were being managed.

Under cross-examination by EFCC’s counsel, Aso Larry, Peter disclosed that he had been shut out of financial decision-making for years, with Jude solely controlling the group’s accounts.

“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.

He also testified that efforts to access the group’s backend reports and digital catalogues were denied by Jude, leaving even Paul, his twin, unaware of the financial operations.

Peter explained that he only discovered the existence of Northside Music Ltd when a potential buyer requested account statements as part of an album acquisition deal.

“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 Peter, Jude refused to cooperate and instead told him the money was held by unidentified parties in South Africa.

“I received no positive response,” he said.

Tracing the group’s history, Peter recounted how they began their musical journey in the late 1990s and had been managed by several people before Jude took over under the Northside Entertainment Ltd brand.

“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 also described how financial support for a shared housing project in Ikoyi ceased once he left the group.

“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.”

Peter said it was Keyamo who encouraged them to agree on a revenue-sharing formula. Still, all funds remained under Jude’s control, and Peter was denied access to the group’s earnings.

He recounted reaching out to a Zenith Bank account officer who allegedly revealed that Jude had barred the release of any information to Peter unless through legal channels.

Peter further said the same digital aggregators handling P-Square’s content were also managing Jude and Paul’s individual projects. After he signed with a different aggregator, Mad Solutions, he reportedly received over $22,000 within three months.

“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 claimed he’d never heard of Northside Music Ltd before, only to later confirm on the Corporate Affairs Commission portal that the directors were Jude and his wife, with her holding the majority stake.

“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 added.

He also said a tax agent visited him and mentioned that Jude was only required to pay about ₦2 million in taxes. However, Jude had reportedly declared that the group had not performed since their split, which contradicted the bank statements Peter had obtained.

“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.

Upon realising the extent of the alleged misconduct, Peter said he approached his lawyer, Afolabi, who subsequently submitted a petition to the EFCC.

The matter has been adjourned until 4 June for cross-examination.