A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja heard on Friday that Ifeoma Okoye, wife of music executive Jude Okoye, owns 800,000 shares in Northside Music Limited, a company at the centre of an alleged $1 million fraud case.
The testimony was given by Peter Okoye, a member of the former music group P-Square, who is the first prosecution witness (PW1) in the trial of his elder brother Jude.
The case stems from a 2024 petition by Peter, who accused Jude, P-Square’s former manager, of financial misconduct concerning the brand.
In the petition, Peter alleged that Jude diverted group funds, operated 47 undeclared bank accounts, and manipulated the shareholding structure of their jointly owned company Northside Entertainment Ltd.
Jude is being prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside his company, Northside Music Limited.
He faces a four-count charge of theft exceeding $1 million and has pleaded not guilty.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Clement Onwuenwunor on Friday, Peter was presented with bank statements from Northside Music Limited.
He affirmed the documents related to the joint business interests of himself and his twin brother Paul.
“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,” the singer told Rahman Oshodi, the judge.
Okoye stated that he petitioned the anti-graft agency through his lawyer upon discovering the alleged diversion of funds.
He further claimed that the defendant’s wife holds 800,000 shares in the implicated company.
The proceedings saw a legal tussle over document admissibility. The defence sought to tender documents attached to the original EFCC petition, but prosecution counsel M.K. Bashir objected.
Bashir argued that the documents from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) were not in proper legal form and were not originally attached to the petition.
“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 said, urging the court to reject them.
Oshodi upheld the objection, ruling that the documents did not meet the court’s admissibility requirements despite originating from the CAC and being in EFCC custody.
“I reject the documents and mark them as rejected,” the judge held.
The case has been adjourned to February 20 and 27, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.
The Okoye brothers first parted ways in 2017 after a disagreement on the role of Jude. In November 2021, they ended their five-year feud and held their first headline concert in December.
Paul, however, confirmed that P-Square no longer exists in August 2024. He claimed his twin brother was behind his arrest by the EFCC.
