By Enitan Abdultawab
Former P-Square manager Jude Okoye has dismissed allegations by his younger brother, Peter Okoye aka Mr P, that he diverted more than $1.2 million in music royalties, insisting the claims have already been addressed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and are now before the court.
In a video posted on Instagram Sunday, Jude accused Mr P of attempting to sway public opinion while legal proceedings remain ongoing.
“You are trying to bait me. You know the court is not going to your favour,” Jude said. “Why are you dodging to make appearance in court? For three good sittings now, you dey dodge court.”
Responding to Mr P’s allegation that he and Paul Okoye aka Rudeboy diverted a royalty payment of about $25,000, Jude maintained that the payment was made according to Mr P’s instructions in 2016.
According to him, records from digital distributor IROKO show that Mr P requested his own share of the royalties to be paid directly into his personal account, while the balance belonging to Jude and Rudeboy was paid into the Northside Entertainment account.
“Peter’s money was sent to him directly… Peter knows this. This has been trashed by the EFCC. We are still in court. How do you explain this?” he said.
Jude also rejected claims that Mr P had been removed as a signatory to the group’s bank accounts, displaying what he described as the official bank mandate.
“Peter remained a signatory to all P-Square accounts,” he said, adding that the same documents had already been presented before the court.
He further disputed Mr P’s claim that it took three and a half months to hand over P-Square’s music catalogue backend records, insisting the request was fulfilled within six days and that download logs showed Peter accessed the files immediately.
Jude also challenged Mr P’s claim that he had only recently begun receiving royalty payments in dollars, saying payment records indicate the singer had been paid in US dollars since 2012.
Rejecting the allegation that over $1.2 million in royalties had been diverted, Jude insisted all payments were properly documented and distributed according to existing agreements.
He also spoke about the personal impact of the ongoing legal battle.
“They’ve frozen my account for over two years. For over two years, I can’t travel,” he said.
Jude maintained that he would not delve into matters still before the court beyond responding to what he described as “false narratives” circulating on social media.
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