The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the remand of Jude Okoye, the elder brother and former manager of the defunct music duo P-Square, in Ikoyi Correctional Centre over an alleged multi-billion naira money laundering scandal. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Okoye on Wednesday on a seven-count charge involving financial crimes amounting to ₦1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.
According to the EFCC, Jude Okoye, alongside his company Northside Music Ltd, allegedly acquired a luxury property at No. 5 Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, worth ₦850 million using proceeds of unlawful activities.
One of the charges states:
> “That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd, sometime in 2022 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did directly acquire a landed property known as No. 5, Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, worth ₦850,000,000, which money you knew or reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of unlawful acts, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 18 (2)(d) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
The EFCC further accused Okoye of using a Bureau de Change operator to convert $1,019,762.87 (over ₦1.4 billion) from his Access Bank Plc account into naira and transferring the funds into multiple accounts in an attempt to conceal the source of the money—an offence under the Money Laundering Act.
At the hearing, Jude Okoye pleaded ‘not guilty’ to all charges. The EFCC’s counsel, Larry Peters Aso, applied for a trial date and requested that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility pending trial.
However, Okoye’s defence counsel, Inibehe Effiong, urged the court to keep his client in EFCC custody while his bail application is considered. The prosecution opposed the request, citing congestion in EFCC detention centres and insisting that the defendant should be transferred to Ikoyi Prison.
Presiding over the case, Justice Alexander Owoeye rejected the defence’s request and ordered that Jude Okoye be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility until his bail hearing on February 28. The court has also scheduled April 14 for the trial commencement.
As the case unfolds, the high-profile trial of the once-celebrated music mogul is expected to attract widespread public and media attention, marking another significant anti-corruption battle in Nigeria.
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