Popular musician, Peter Okoye, on Friday, admitted before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja that he is a co-signatory to the Northside Entertainment Limited bank account, contrary to his earlier claims that his elder brother, Jude Okoye, was the sole signatory.

Peter made the admission at the resume hearing of the trial of Jude by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over an alleged $1 million theft.

Earlier in the case, Peter had maintained that Jude alone controlled the company’s accounts and financial dealings.

However, during cross-examination, defence lawyers presented bank mandates indicating that Peter and his twin brother were also signatories, contradicting the earlier claim.

The defence counsel, Clement Onwuewunor, SAN, pressed the witness on his previous testimony regarding his role in the company’s accounts.

Confronted with his earlier evidence that a bank informed him he was only a shareholder and not a co-signatory, Peter told the court that the information had come from a phone conversation with officials of another bank he described as the “new bank”.

But when asked directly about the Northside Entertainment Limited account with Ecobank, the singer acknowledged his status as a signatory.

“My lord, Northside Entertainment Limited account in Ecobank — I am a co-signatory,” he said.

During questioning, Peter attempted to explain that although he later became a signatory, his elder brother initially operated the account.

“From the very onset, Jude was only the signatory. But after some years, he made Paul and me also signatories,” he told the court, adding that despite the arrangement, he had never personally signed cheques or carried out transactions.

Earlier in the cross-examination, Peter also reaffirmed that the music catalogue of PSquare belonged exclusively to him and his twin brother, excluding Jude.

When asked to clarify what the catalogue meant, he explained that it was the collection of songs produced by the group over the years.

According to him, the duo released about six albums with roughly 10 to 15 tracks each, putting the total number of songs close to 100.

The witness further told the court that Jude was not originally a member of the PSquare group, but was later brought in as a manager after they had worked with other managers.

He said the engagement occurred around 2004 or 2005, although he admitted that there was no written contract or formal letter of employment documenting Jude’s appointment.

When the defence suggested that the singers were only the public faces of the group, while Jude played a more substantive role behind the scenes, Peter rejected the claim.

He told the court that the group had several managers before Jude and insisted that the success of PSquare was built by him and his twin brother from the beginning.

“We all started together as students,” he said, disputing the suggestion that Jude was more central to the group’s substance than the performers themselves.

The witness also confirmed that the brothers registered companies to manage their music business, including Northside Entertainment Limited as a management outfit and Square Records Limited as a record label.

According to him, the arrangement meant that he and his twin brother were not merely artists but part-owners of the companies handling their music and business affairs.

Under questioning, Peter acknowledged that his elder brother held about 40 per cent shares in Northside Entertainment Limited, while he held about 30 per cent, though he said he was not entirely certain of the exact figures.

He also identified a company known as Mad Solutions as one of the organisations responsible for collecting and distributing royalties from PSquare songs in Nigeria.

According to him, royalties are paid directly into the individual accounts of beneficiaries.

“They pay me my own share in my personal account as Peter Okoye,” he said, adding that he could not speak for how payments due to others were handled.

At another point in the cross-examination, the defence presented a contract relating to royalty distribution and asked the witness to confirm whether the signature on the document was his.

Peter responded that the signature appeared to be his but said he needed to examine the document more closely.