Peter Okoye Testifies Against Brother In ₦1.38bn Fraud Case

Popular Nigerian singer, Peter Okoye, has testified in court against his elder brother, Jude Okoye, in a money laundering case involving over ₦1.38 billion.

The case against Jude Okoye currently being heard at the Federal High Court in Lagos, has attracted wide attention, especially with a spotlight on his twin brothers, Peter and Paul.

Peter Okoye told the court that Jude, who used to manage the finances of their music group P-Square, secretly registered a company called Northside Music Limited. This company, according to him, was used to collect royalties without being open about the process.

He explained that Jude was the only one with access to their bank accounts and controlled all financial decisions. Peter said he became suspicious when he couldn’t access money for a house project in Ikoyi and was told, “As you leave P-Square, you leave the money.”

Peter testified that the house project was being financed through Northside Entertainment Ltd., but the funds were suddenly stopped for six months. He said Jude was the only signatory to accounts in Ecobank, Zenith Bank, and FCMB, which left him cut off from his own money.

He added, “Sometimes in 2017, the group P-Square disbanded, we were apart for nearly 5 years plus. In November 2021, the group came back.” He went on to say, “P-Square started in 1997-98. Before Jude became our manager, we had several managers who included; Chioma Ugochi; she managed us when we were in secondary – university studies. We also had the late Bayo Odusami OG Mbuntu music. He managed us for five years. After myself and twin brother managed ourselves for a couple of months, we decided that he (Jude) should manage us and Northside Entertainment Ltd.”

Peter Okoye revealed that things started to go wrong when Jude became the sole decision-maker for their finances. He said, “We continued running our business and sometimes we started having issues on how he ran the business. The issues were mainly on how he was the sole signatory to all our bank accounts in Ecobank, Zenith and FCMB.”

He mentioned that their former lawyer, Festus Keyamo, helped propose a sharing formula when the issues persisted. But even then, he was left stranded during the house construction period. He stated, “When we have these issues for a couple of months, I didn’t have access to money. Not until when Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), now Minister of Aviation, who was our lawyer, came up that we have to have a sharing formula.”

Peter said he later checked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) records and found out that Northside Music Limited was owned 80% by Jude’s wife and 20% by Jude. He also claimed the financial backend of the company had been altered to hide the real figures and make it harder to track the royalties.

He told the court, “There was a scenario that happened when we were building our houses in Ikoyi, whereby it’s only the defendant who can sign out money. The finance of the house project was by Northside Entertainment Ltd., but they just stopped financing my house for six months.” He added, “Within that six months, when we came back, I approached the defendant and my twin brother, Paul, and asked why they stopped financing my project. What I heard from them was ‘as you leave P-square, you leave the money’. With that comment, I had to approach our lawyer, Keyamo.”

Peter said he reported the issue to a lawyer named Afolabi, who helped him petition Jude Okoye for financial misconduct.

The EFCC has brought several charges against Jude and his company, including one that claims he bought a property worth ₦850 million in Ikoyi with money suspected to be proceeds of crime. One of the charges states: “That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Limited sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did directly acquire a landed property known as No 5, Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos worth ₦850,000,000.00 (Eight hundred and fifty million naira) only, which money you knew or reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful act…”

Another charge accuses him of converting over $1 million through a Bureau De Change and transferring it to different accounts to hide the source of the funds. This, according to the EFCC, violates money laundering laws.

Jude has denied all the allegations and pleaded not guilty. The case has been adjourned to June 4 for further hearings and cross-examination.
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