A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has heard that Peter Okoye has withdrawn his earlier claim that he was excluded from the bank account of Northside Entertainment Limited, a company central to an alleged $1 million fraud case involving his elder brother, Jude Okoye.
Testifying before Justice Rahman Oshodi on Friday, Peter acknowledged that he is indeed a co-signatory to the company’s Ecobank account — contradicting his previous statement that Jude was the sole authorised signatory.
The matter originated from a 2024 petition Peter filed, accusing Jude — who previously managed the now-defunct music group P-Square — of misappropriating group funds, operating 47 undeclared accounts, and altering the company’s shareholding structure.
Jude Okoye is currently facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside Northside Music Limited on a four-count charge of theft exceeding $1 million. He has pleaded not guilty.
Courtroom Revelation
During cross-examination, defence counsel Clement Onwuewunor presented bank documents indicating that both Peter and his twin brother Paul were authorised signatories to the account in question.
Peter explained that his earlier claim — that he was merely a shareholder and not a signatory — was based on information relayed to him during a phone call with officials from what he described as a “new” bank.
However, when specifically asked about the Ecobank account of Northside Entertainment Limited, he admitted:
“My Lord, I am a co-signatory to the Northside Entertainment Limited account in Ecobank.”
Attempting to clarify the apparent contradiction, Peter stated that although he and Paul were later added as signatories, he never personally signed cheques or handled transactions.
“From the very onset, Jude was the only signatory. But after some years, he made myself and Paul signatories. Despite that, I never personally signed cheques or carried out transactions,” he said.
Ownership and Royalty Dispute
Peter further maintained that the P-Square music catalogue belongs solely to him and his twin brother, stressing that Jude joined the group later as a manager around 2004 or 2005.
“We all started together as students. We had several managers before Jude. The success of PSquare was built by me and my twin brother from the beginning,” he testified.
He confirmed that Northside Entertainment Limited and Square Records Limited were established to manage the group’s business affairs, adding that Jude owns approximately 40 percent of Northside Entertainment Limited, while he holds about 30 percent.
Peter also told the court that his royalties are paid directly into his personal account by Mad Solutions, the organisation responsible for collecting and distributing P-Square’s royalties in Nigeria. When presented with a royalty distribution contract by the defence, he said the signature resembled his but requested further examination before confirming its authenticity.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case until May 15 for continuation of the trial.
The dispute is the latest chapter in the long-running tensions among the Okoye brothers. The group first split in 2017 over disagreements regarding Jude’s managerial role, reconciled in 2021, and later dissolved again in 2024 after Paul confirmed that P-Square had ceased to exist.
