The Federal High Court in Lagos has commenced the trial of Jude Okoye, former manager of the popular music group P-Square, over alleged money laundering involving ₦1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.
In a surprising twist, Peter Obumuneme Okoye, one half of the music duo and Jude’s younger brother, took the stand as a prosecution witness. Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel Aso Larry, Peter detailed how his brother allegedly established another company to collect the group’s royalties without their knowledge.
“Back in 2017, P-Square disbanded, and we went our separate ways for over five years. It wasn’t until November 2021 that we reunited as a group,” Peter told the court.
“We were apart for five years—2017 to 2021. P-Square started in 1997/98. Before Jude became our manager, we had several managers, including Chioma Ugochi, who managed us while we were in secondary school through university. We also had the late Bayo Odusami of Mbuntu Music, who managed us for five years. My twin brother and I even managed ourselves for a few months before deciding that Jude would manage us under Northside Entertainment Ltd.
“We continued doing business, but along the line, we started having issues—mainly about how Jude was running things. He was the sole signatory to all our bank accounts at Ecobank, Zenith Bank, and FCMB.
“Whenever these issues came up, I wouldn’t have access to funds for months. It wasn’t until Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), who is now the Minister of Aviation and was our lawyer at the time, insisted we needed to establish a sharing formula that the situation began to change.
“There was a scenario while we were building our houses in Ikoyi. The financing was through Northside Entertainment Ltd, but suddenly, they stopped funding my house project for six months. Jude was the only one who could sign out money. When I approached him and my twin brother, Paul, about why the funding stopped, they told me, ‘You left P-Square, so you left the money.’
“After that, I approached our lawyer, Mr. Keyamo. I couldn’t even buy a phone without first seeking Jude’s approval. All the money was with Northside Entertainment, and Jude was the sole signatory.”
Peter further told the court that after the group reunited in November 2021, Jude was no longer managing them. It was then he discovered the existence of a company called Northside Music Ltd, which had a similar name to their original company.
“I made the discovery in late 2022 when some individuals showed interest in acquiring our albums. They requested statements of account to assess how much revenue the albums generated monthly. Since I had no access to the ‘backend’—which is traceable through Northside’s accounts and the aggregators that pay royalties from platforms like YouTube and iTunes—I asked Jude for access, but he refused.
“I then went to Paul, but he said, ‘You know I don’t have a say. Go and meet Jude.’ He promised to talk to him but didn’t follow through.”
Peter said he later approached Paul again, asking if he had spoken with Jude, but Paul said he hadn’t had time. When Peter went back to Jude, Jude told him his share of the money was with some people in South Africa. Peter clarified he wasn’t asking for money, only for access to the backend and the statements of account. Still, he received no positive response.
Frustrated, he contacted the account officers at both Ecobank and Zenith Bank, but they could not provide satisfactory answers. The Zenith Bank officer later told him that Jude had instructed them not to release any information to Peter, and that the only way to obtain it was through the court.
Peter also discovered that the same aggregators handling P-Square’s music were also managing Jude and Paul’s catalogs. He approached Paul for access to P-Square’s albums, but both Paul and Jude appeared uncomfortable with the request.
“After I became suspicious, they finally agreed to give the catalog to Mad Solutions, who promised to start making payments three months after signing. When the payment came in, I received over $22,000 USD. I asked if they had also received payment, and I was told both Jude and Paul had already been paid.”
He told the court that until this point, he was unaware of a company called Northside Music Ltd. When he asked Paul about it, Paul directed him to check Cynthia Morgan’s album—she was Jude’s artist at the time. Upon checking, he saw the label was under Northside Inc., not Northside Music. When Peter confronted Jude again, Jude claimed it would take three and a half months to retrieve the catalogues. Eventually, the catalogues were forwarded to Peter, who sent them to the interested buyers through his new management.
However, the buyers found that the catalogues lacked financial data and only contained numbers. They concluded the backend had been tampered with. As a result, an initial offer of $8,000 USD dropped to $500 USD due to the suspicious changes.
Peter also testified that a search on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) portal revealed that Jude and his wife were listed as directors of Northside Music Ltd. His wife owned 80% of the company, while Jude held 20%.
He further stated that one of the potential buyers of the catalogue visited his house and invited Paul to discuss. Paul responded, “I know Peter has told you everything… I’m tired of all this. Peter, go and do your worst.”
Following this series of events, Peter contacted his lawyer, Afolabi, who filed a petition with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), leading to Jude’s arraignment.
Jude Okoye is being prosecuted by the EFCC before Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Lagos. He is standing trial alongside his company, Northside Music Limited, on a seven-count charge.
One of the charges reads:
“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 located at No. 5, Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, worth ₦850,000,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty Million Naira), which you knew or reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activity, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
Another charge alleges that in 2022, Okoye and his company used a Bureau De Change to convert $1,019,762.87 held in an Access Bank account operated by Northside Music Ltd into naira and transferred the funds into various accounts to conceal the illicit origin of the funds.
This, according to the EFCC, contravenes Section 18(2)(a) and is punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.
Jude Okoye has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Further hearing of the matter has been adjourned to June 4 for cross-examination.
