In the ongoing trial of his older brother, Jude Chigozie Okoye, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) introduced Nigerian musician Peter Okoye, often known as Mr. P, as its first prosecution witness (PW1) on Friday, May 16, 2025.
Former P-Square manager Jude Okoye and his company, Northside Music Ltd., are on trial before Justice Rahman Oshodi at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on four counts that include alleged theft of $1 million and £34,537 in music royalties, according to Naija News.
In testimony led by Mohammed Bashir, an EFCC attorney, Mr. P informed the court that on January 22, 2024, he filed a petition with the EFCC, claiming financial embezzlement related to royalties.
Jude claimed that although he had put Northside Music Ltd. as the respondent at first, investigations showed that Jude controlled 20% of the business and Ifeoma, his wife, owned 80%.
“I didn’t communicate with Paul or Jude until April 2024, when the EFCC inquired about my twin brother’s involvement. I claimed not to know. According to investigations, Jude received royalties from more than 47 bank accounts,” he stated.
Mr. P also mentioned that only Jude was arrested, even though the anti-graft agency eventually invited both Jude and Paul.
“Jude never denied committing the crime,” he also revealed. In a meeting at the EFCC, however, Paul informed me that Jude owned 40% of P-Square, while Paul and I hold 30% each.
Despite being in business as early as 2013—two years prior to the group’s dissolution in 2017—Northside Music Ltd. was registered in 2015, which Mr. P said he was not aware of.
He continued, “Ifeoma, Jude’s wife, was never involved in our business engagements.”
In his account of the duo’s history, Mr. P mentioned that he and Paul began their musical careers in 1999. Peter, Paul, and Jude, the three brothers, were named as directors and shareholders of Northside Entertainment Ltd. by the time it was registered in 2005.
For three accounts that were opened with Ecobank, FCMB, and Zenith Bank, Jude was the only signatory. “Naira and Dollar accounts were among them,” he testified.
Between the 2017 split of P-Square and their 2021 reunion, he said he never got any royalties from the band.
I-Rocking.com and FreeMe Digital were among the music streaming services that paid Northside Entertainment Ltd. all royalties prior to the split.
“I found disparities in royalties after we got back together without Jude managing us, and I saw a company with the same name—Northside Music Ltd.—that Jude alone was running,” he added.
In addition, he disclosed that when a prospective buyer approached the group during a London tour regarding the sale of their music collection, he asked to access the royalty back-end, which revealed dubious transactions.
On January 22, 2024, the EFCC submitted the petition as evidence in court. No objection was raised by Chief Clement Onwuenwunor, SAN, the defense attorney.
Justice Oshodi postponed further hearings after admitting the petition.
Jude Okoye and Northside song Ltd. are accused of embezzling substantial profits from the internationally popular P-Square song collection, despite the group’s dissolution in 2017 and subsequent reunion without Jude’s leadership, according to reports.
The EFCC is pursuing the trial in an effort to prove improper registration of business companies associated with the P-Square brand, fraudulent appropriation of royalties, and misuse of company accounts.
