By Nkechi Eze
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, April 14, 2025, presented its first prosecution witness, PW1, Peter Obumuneme Okoye, against Jude Chigozie Okoye, elder brother and former Manager of Paul and Peter Okoye, before Justice A. Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Okoye is standing trial alongside his company, Northside Music Limited, on a seven- count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N1.38bn.
Dele Oyewale the commission’s spokesperson in an official signed statement disclosed that One of the counts 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 known as No 5, Tony Eromosele StreetParkview 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 form part of proceeds of unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2) (d) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him, upon his arraignment on February 26, 2025.
At today’s proceedings, Jude described the defendant as his elder brother and former Manager of the group called P-square.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Aso Larry’s Peters, Peter said: “The group, P-Square started sometime in 1997. But in 2017, it was disbanded. We stayed apart for about five years. But in November 2021, the group came back.
“Before Jude became our Manager, we had several managers, including Chioma Ugochi, who managed us when we were in the secondary school and in the University; and the late Bayo Odusami of Mbuntu music, who managed us for five years.
“Thereafter, my twin brother and I managed the band for a couple of months before we decided that he (Jude) would manage us and Northside Entertainment Limited.
“So, we continued running our business. But we were always having issues about how he was running the business. The issues were mainly about the fact that he was the sole signatory to all our bank accounts in Ecobank, Zenith and FCMB.
“These issues lasted for a couple of months. I didn’t have access to the accounts until the current Minister of Aviation, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, who was our lawyer, said we needed a sharing formula.”
While giving further evidence, he recalled an incident when the brothers were building their houses in Ikoyi, saying, “The funding of the house project was by Northwest Entertainment Ltd. But they just stopped financing my house for six months.
“The accounts were owned by the company, while Jude was the only signatory to all the accounts. At some, I approached him and my twin brother, Paul, to know why they stopped financing my project. But what I heard from them was “As you leave P-square, u leave the money’.
“With that comment, I had to approach our lawyer, Keyamo.
“All our money is in Northside Entertainment, and he is the sole signatory.
“Along the line, I discovered that there’s a company similar to ours, Northside Music Limited.
“In 2022, I discovered this when some people wanted to acquire our albums. These individuals demanded our statements of account to know how much the albums were generating monthly. The reason is that I didn’t have access to ‘backend’, which could be traced through a Northside account and through the aggregators (these are people you engage to know when they play your music on any medium, so you get paid). I then demanded that I wanted to know the backend. But he refused.
“Then, I went to my twin brother, Paul, who replied thus: “You know, I don’t know anything about it, but Jude.”
“When I suggested we go to see him, he said he would go and meet him, so I left him.”
He further told the court that when he approached Paul a few weeks after about it, Paul told him he had discussed the issue with Jude.
Giving further testimony, he told the court that: “Thereafter, I approached Jude again. He told me that my share of the money was with some people in South Africa. I told him I was not asking for money , but the backend and the statements of the account. But there was no positive response.”
Following this discussion, he said he then reached out to the accounts officers in both Eco Bank and Zenith Bank, respectively . But he said he did not get satisfactory response from them.
According to him , “The account officer at the Zenith Bank later told me that Jude told him not to send it to me. The officer added that the only way I could get it was through the court.
“I however, discovered that the aggregators handling P-square’s Music Company were the same persons handling Paul and Peter. So, I approached Paul and told him to give them the albums of P-Square. But Jude and Paul were not comfortable with that.”
Also, Peter told the court that both Jude and Paul subsequently allowed him to give the catalogue to Mad Solution and he was assured that he would start receiving money after three months.
He said: “Three months after, I received over $22,000 USD. I was also told that both Jude and Paul had been paid.
“Until I called, I did not have an idea of a company called Northside music. I decided not to meet Jude over it. But when I approached Paul if he knew about Northside Music, he said I should check the album by Cynthia Morgan, who was then Jude’s artiste.
“When I checked Cynthia Morgan’s album, it was Northside Incorporation and not Northside Music. I then approached Jude for the same backend. He told me that it was going to take three and half months to retrieve the catalogue.
“And then forwarded the catalogue to me. My new management now sent it to people who wanted to buy it.”
According to him, “By the time it was sent to me, it only bore numbers and not figures.
“They responded that the backend had been tampered with, which suggested that the people who offered $8000 USD could not offer $500 USD,owing to the fact that the numbers had reduced.
“I went to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) site, and discovered that the Directors of Northside Music were Jude Okoye and his wife. I also discovered that Jude’s wife owned 80%, while Jude owned 20%.
“On the backend, I was unable to get anything because it had been tampered with. One of those interested in buying the catalogue came to my house and invited Paul. But his response was that “ I know Peter has told you this. …..When he came back after an hour, he told me that he was tired of all this and that I could do my worst.
“The man handling our tax, Emmanuel, came to my house and said Jude should pay N2m or thereabouts.
“He said Jude was able to prove that since they broke up, they had not been performing. But when I checked the statements of accounts from January 1, to December 2017, I discovered that those who paid money to the Access Bank account were the aggregators.
“I then contacted my lawyer, Afolabi l, who now took the matter to the EFCC.”
The case was adjourned till June 4, 2025 for cross-examination.
