P-Square rift: Peter Okoye denies reporting twin brother Paul to EFCC
Peter Okoye, one half of the popular music duo, P-Square, has spoken on the ongoing feud between him and his twin brother, Paul.
In a statement on X.com on Monday, Peter denied accusations that he reported Paul to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, stating that his focus was on uncovering the truth behind a secret company, Northside Music, allegedly owned by their brother, Jude Okoye, and his wife, Ifeoma.
Peter in the statement wrote, “Before I tell you the whole story, here is what I need you all to understand.
“It’s always surprising to me when people say, ‘P-Square is always bringing their family matters into the public eye.’ Let me clarify this. P-Square is not just a family – it’s a public brand, but Peter, Paul, Jude, Anita, Ifeoma, Lola, and the rest of our family members are family, but P-Square is an entity that belongs to the public as much as it does belong to us.
“Our fans have played a significant role in our success, so they have the right to know what’s happening with their beloved brand P-Square. That’s why it’s understandable when certain aspects of our lives are shared publicly.
“Now, let’s get straight to the point. I want to make it clear that I never reported my twin brother Paul to the EFCC. I know many of you were disappointed when Paul accused me of doing so.
“He mentioned that I wrote a petition against him, which he claimed made the EFCC to ask him to provide a surety. This statement suggested that he was detained, which is not true.
“Peter, Paul and Jude own a management company together called Northside Entertainment, which we use to manage all of P-Square’s affairs. One day, I discovered another company with a similar name, but this one was called Northside Music instead of Northside Entertainment.
“This surprised me, so I decided to investigate further and guess what? To my shock, the founders and directors of this secret company were none other than Jude Okoye and his wife, Ifeoma Okoye, and the registered address was the family home of Jude’s wife.”
Peter disclosed that he confronted Paul many times about the company and missing royalties, but Paul denied knowledge, saying that his legal team only targeted Jude and his wife, the directors of the secret company, not Paul.
He added, “Still in shock, I knew I had to talk to Paul about it. I approached him multiple times – at least four different times – asking if he knew anything about this secret company and the whereabouts of some of P-Square’s royalties. Each time I met with him, he denied knowing anything about it.
“I want to set the record straight. I hereby challenge Paul, or anyone else to show any petition that I, Peter Okoye, ever submitted against my twin brother Paul or that has Paul’s name on it.
“I am still writing this with so much shock because I gave clear instructions to my legal team, with a standing order, that under no circumstances should Paul be included in my petition.
“Their focus was to remain solely on the primary suspects, Jude Okoye and his wife, Ifeoma Okoye – since they were the directors of this secret company, Northside Music.
Paul’s recent interview about the EFCC incident contains a lot of lies.”
Peter accused Paul of lying in his recent interview about the EFCC incident.
“I watched and listened to Paul’s interview, I was totally speechless and I kept asking myself, ‘how does Paul have the audacity to publicly tell lies like this, even with a respected and reputable agency like the EFCC?’
“He claimed I petitioned him, but that’s not something that ever happened to Paul. The truth is, this was something that actually happened to Jude,” he added..
According to Peter, he discovered that millions of dollars and hundreds of millions of Naira had been diverted from their company, Northside Entertainment, into the secret company’s account.
“The real story goes back to the shocking discovery I made, but what really got me very upset was finding out that for years, millions of dollars and hundreds of millions of Naira were being secretly diverted into this secret company’s account, Northside Music, from our own company, Northside Entertainment.
“This was not just a minor issue – it was a massive betrayal that had been going on for several years,” he claimed.
He said that despite attempts to discuss the matter with Paul and Jude, he was left with no choice but to involve the authorities.
“I understand that Paul is angry because I took this matter to the EFCC, and I understand why. However, bearing in mind that I have met Paul and Jude separately and tried to discuss this matter and it yielded me with no positive answer, in fact, the last time I approached Paul, the conversation got heated up and he said, and I quote, ‘Peter, go and do your worst.’ At this stage, I was left with no other choice but to report to the authorities and take legal actions.
“Jude was then detained after being questioned. He came clean and admitted he had been diverting millions of dollars of our money to this secret company that he and his wife were the director of. All of Jude’s bank accounts were immediately frozen,” he added.
Peter had earlier expressed frustration over Paul’s constant discrediting of his efforts in the group.
The brothers have been at odds since their last breakup, with both pursuing solo careers as Rudeboy and Mr. P.