Henry Okoye has accused his younger brother, Jude, of withholding his share of the royalties from P-Square’s songs.
Henry, the immediate elder brother of Jude and P-Square members Paul and Peter Okoye, made the allegation while speaking about the family feud involving the music duo.
Newsunplug reports that Peter, one half of the P-Square music duo, had accused his twin brother, Paul, and Jude, their immediate elder brother and former group manager, of diverting P-Square royalties.
Peter also accused Paul and Jude of betrayal and maltreatment.
Jude, who had claimed ownership of P-Square, denied the allegations and took Peter to court in an attempt to stop him from performing P-Square’s songs.
Many Nigerians, including celebrities, rallied around Peter in support of his solo music career and continued to criticise Jude, with some tagging him “Judas Iscariot.”
However, in his first public interview addressing the controversy, Henry accused Jude of withholding the 20 per cent share he was entitled to as P-Square’s sponsor.
Henry also accused Jude of turning the singers against other members of the family, claiming that Jude only became involved after P-Square had gained popularity.
He further disclosed that their mother was initially opposed to the idea of making Jude the group’s manager because of what he described as Jude’s “evil personality.” According to Henry, it was Tony Okoye, another of his brothers who was also involved with the group, who convinced their mother to allow Jude to take up the managerial role.
Henry said: “Before they started, Paul and Peter promised me 20 per cent of each of their songs’ royalties.
“I’m the sponsor of P-Square from the time they started until they started making money. When they started, they promised me 20 per cent on each of their music.”
When the interviewer asked if he had been receiving the 20 per cent, Henry responded:
“No, nobody has given me. After two or three years, I asked them why I had not been seeing the agreed 20 per cent that they said they would give me as the sponsor who was putting money into their career growth and development.
“Before I knew it, Jude got up and asked what I meant by 20 per cent and for what purpose. He said they had been travelling to different countries by air and asked what would happen if they had a plane crash. He said I would just be there enjoying myself.
“I told him, ‘Jude, you were not there when we started P-Square, but you came later and tried to chase everybody away.’ And he did it.
“Tony Okoye, the immediate elder brother of P-Square, was one of their dancers. Tony is in Lagos, but nobody is hearing about him. This is the first time I’m coming out on social media.
“Our last-born, Mary, is also in Lagos, but Jude did not let them get help from P-Square.”