On Monday, April 14, 2025, The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos,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 on a standing trial alongside his company, Northside Music Limited, on a seven- count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N1.38bn.
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 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 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, which some include Chioma Ugochi, who managed us when we were in the secondary school and in the University; and the late Bayo Odusami of Mbuntu music, also 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 with the running of 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 in 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 and my twin brother, approached him , to know why they stopped financing my project. But what I heard from them was “I heard the words, ‘When you leave P-square, you leave the money.’ This prompted me to consult our lawyer, Keyamo.
“All our funds are managed by Northside Entertainment, where he is the only signatory. I later found out about a company called Northside Music Limited, which is similar to ours.
“In 2022, I became aware of this when some individuals expressed interest in acquiring our albums. They requested our financial statements to assess the monthly earnings from the albums. I realized I lacked access to the ‘backend’ data, which could be traced through a Northside account and the aggregators (the entities that track when our music is played across various platforms for payment). I asked to see the backend information, but he refused.
“I then spoke to my twin brother, Paul, who said, ‘I don’t know anything about it, but Jude does.’
“When I proposed that we meet with Jude, Paul agreed to go see him, and I left it at that.” He later mentioned to the court that when he followed up with Paul a few weeks later, Paul informed him he had talked to Jude about the matter.
Continuing his testimony, he said, “I approached Jude again, and he told me that my share of the money was with some people in South Africa. I clarified that I wasn’t asking for money, just the backend information and account statements, but I received no positive response.”
After this conversation, he contacted the account officers at Eco Bank and Zenith Bank, but he was not satisfied with their responses.
He stated, “The account officer at Zenith Bank eventually told me that Jude instructed him not to send me the information. The officer added that the only way I could obtain it was through legal action. I later discovered that the aggregators managing P-square’s music were the same ones working with Paul and Peter. So, I approached Paul and suggested he provide them with P-Square’s albums, but Jude and Paul were not comfortable with that.”
Peter also testified that both Jude and Paul eventually allowed him to give the catalog to Mad Solution, and he was assured he would start receiving payments after three months.
He said, “Three months later, I received over $22,000 USD. I was also informed that both Jude and Paul had been paid.
“Until I made the call, I had no knowledge of a company called Northside Music. I chose not to confront Jude about it. However, when I asked Paul if he knew about Northside Music, he suggested I check the album by Cynthia Morgan, who was then signed to Jude.
“When I looked into Cynthia Morgan’s album, it was under Northside Incorporation, not Northside Music. I then asked Jude for the backend information again, and he told me it would take three and a half months to retrieve the catalog.
“He eventually sent the catalog to me, and my new management forwarded it to potential buyers.”
He stated, “When it was sent to me, it only had numbers and no figures. They replied that the backend had been altered, indicating that those who offered $8,000 USD were unable to provide even $500 USD because the numbers had decreased.
“I visited the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website and found that the directors of Northside Music were Jude Okoye and his wife. I also learned that Jude’s wife owned 80% of the company, while Jude owned 20%.
“I couldn’t retrieve any information from the backend because it had been tampered with. One potential buyer of the catalog came to my house and invited Paul. However, Paul’s response was, ‘I know Peter has informed you about this… When he returned after an hour, he told me he was fed up with everything and that I could do my worst.’
“The person managing our taxes, Emmanuel, visited my house and mentioned that Jude should pay around N2 million.
“He claimed that Jude had demonstrated that they hadn’t performed since their breakup. However, when I reviewed the account statements from January 1 to December 2017, I found that the payments made to the Access Bank account were from the aggregators.
“I then reached out to my lawyer, Afolabi, who subsequently took the issue to the EFCC.”
The case has been postponed until June 4, 2025, for cross-examination.
