Peter ‘Mr P’ Okoye, one half of the now-defunct music duo P-Square, has testified against his elder brother and former manager of the group, Jude.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Jude is standing trial alongside his company, Northside Music Ltd, on a four-count charge relating to alleged misappropriation of $1 million and £34,537.
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In a statement on the EFCC X page on Saturday, the anti-graft agency disclosed that the trial, held before an Ikeja Special Offences Court, resumed on Friday.
Jude was previously granted bail for N50 million on 6 March.
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At the resumed hearing before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, the commission presented Mr P as its first prosecution witness.
While giving evidence, the singer, led in testimony by the prosecution counsel, Mohammed Bashir, told the court that Jude’s wife, Ifeoma, owned substantial shares in Northside Music Ltd (Jude’s company).
The ‘Winning’ crooner said: “I went to the EFCC with my lawyer to submit the petition on January 22, 2024. I initially wrote Northside Music as the respondent. However, upon various investigations by the Commission, it was discovered that Jude’s wife, Ifeoma, owns the company because she owns 80 per cent of the shares. In comparison, Jude retains the remaining 20 per cent.
“I submitted the petition, and I never spoke to either Paul or Jude until early April 2024, when the EFCC asked if my twin brother was involved, and I said I did not know. The commission discovered over 47 bank accounts used by Jude to receive royalties.”
Northside Music
According to him, Jude was subsequently invited and detained by the EFCC following his petition.
The singer added that while Jude did not deny committing the alleged offence, Peter’s twin, Paul, also known as Rudeboy, told Peter during a meeting at the EFCC office that Jude is the majority owner of P-Square.
Mr P insisted that he was unaware of Northside Music’s establishment or of Jude’s purported ownership of P-Square.
“Paul told me Jude owns 40 per cent, while the two of us (Mr P and Rudeboy) own 30 per cent each. Ifeoma was never part of our engagement, and I was unaware that Northside Music was registered.
“Northside Music, according to my findings, was registered in 2015 and had been operating illegally, two years before our break-up”, he noted.
Following his testimony, the prosecution sought to tender the petition dated 22 January 2024.
The lead counsel for the defendants, Clement Onwuenwunor, did not object to the petition’s admissibility.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case to 23 May for continuation of the trial.
Previous proceedings
The EFCC noted that during the previous proceedings, Mr P informed the court that he and Rudeboy began their music career in 1999.
He further testified that between 2005 and 2006, they established a company, Northside Entertainment Ltd, in which they served as directors and shareholders.
However, he stated that Jude was the sole signatory to the company’s three bank accounts, which were held by Eco Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), and Zenith Bank.
ALSO READ: Alleged N1.38 billion Fraud: Peter Okoye testifies against brother, Jude in court
The anti-graft agency quoted Mr P as saying, “They were both Naira and Dollar accounts, and Jude was the sole manager of all the accounts. In September 2017, P-Square broke up, and we came back together in November 2021. During this period, I never received any royalties from our company. Before we broke up in 2017, every royalty was paid into Northside Entertainment Ltd., where the three of us were shareholders.
“We have two aggregators (streaming platforms that generate income): I-rocking.com and Free me Digital, which I was aware of. When people play our songs on their mobile phones, it generates income: so we receive funds from these two aggregators before our split.”
According to the commission, Mr P said he pursued a solo career following the group’s breakup and hired a different manager.
“When we got back without him as our manager, I discovered that our brother ran a similar company called Northside Music. I started seeing discrepancies in how royalties were sent to me and my twin brother.
“When I went on a tour in London, some individuals approached us to ask if we would like to sell our catalogues, but they needed to see the back end. After so many attempts to get the back-end from Jude, I discovered he had tampered with the original one, making over seven companies rethink purchasing the catalogues.”
P-Square is a music group comprising three brothers, Mr P, Rudeboy, and Jude.
The group first split in 2017 but reunited in 2021. However, in August 2024, they parted ways once again.
Since then, the three brothers have been embroiled in court cases over the alleged diversion of P-Square’s funds.
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