In the ongoing trial of Jude Chigozie Okoye, elder brother of P-Square members and former manager of the duo, Peter Obumuneme Okoye, the first prosecution witness (PW1), revealed on Friday that the defendant’s wife owns 800,000 shares in Northside Music Limited.
Jude Okoye and his company, Northside Music Limited, are facing a four-count charge of theft amounting to over $1 million, brought by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
During proceedings before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, defence counsel Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN) cross-examined PW1 using bank statements from Northside Music Limited, outlining several transactions over time.
PW1, however, maintained that the accounts were part of their joint business venture. “These statements of account belong to me and my brother. We are P-Square. The company belongs to Peter and Paul. It was registered by him. I reported to the EFCC when I discovered funds were being diverted, and EFCC brought the matter to court,” he said.
He further disclosed the existence of another company allegedly diverting funds from their business. “My lord, we own an entertainment company together, and I discovered another company, Northside Entertainment Company diverting our funds. I showed it to my brother.”
PW1 confirmed that he had petitioned the EFCC through his lawyer and reiterated that the defendant’s wife holds 800,000 shares in the company.
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Following this, the defence attempted to submit documents attached to the original EFCC petition, arguing that they were essential to their case. The prosecution counsel, M.K. Bashir, objected, stating, “The documents are public documents. The defence merely produced copies stamped as Certified True Copies (CTC). They were not attached to the petition, and they were not in proper legal form.” He urged the court to reject the documents.
In a brief ruling, Justice Oshodi sided with the prosecution, noting that while the documents originated from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and were in EFCC custody, they did not satisfy the court’s admissibility requirements. “I reject the documents and mark them as rejected,” the judge declared.
PW1 also confirmed that he submitted a separate statement to the EFCC following the filing of the petition by his lawyer.
The trial was adjourned to February 20 and 27, 2026, for continuation.