On Wednesday, August 13 2024, Labour Party 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi paid a visit to Nigerian singer Paul Okoye and his elder brother, Jude Okoye, following confirmation that Psquare had split a second time. The Psquare twins were staunch followers of Obi during the 2023 election, and with the elder statesman being from Anambra state as and like a father figure, it’s only natural that he will try to mediate and reconcile the brothers.
The next day, Peter Obi also visited Peter Okoye in his home, and many commended him for showing immense respect for both by visiting them separately to personally hear their own side of the story and try to help amend the ongoing feud between the twins and their elder brother Jude Okoye.
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On July 31 2024, Paul Okoye, popularly known as Rudeboy, accused his twin of filing a petition against him before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In not so many words, the Reason With Me hitmaker implied that he was detained and when Peter realised he was innocent of any wrongdoing, he refused to apologise to him. This sad development sparked reactions from fans who couldn’t understand why two brothers who shared the same womb couldn’t love each other and make music together.
Even worse, news of the Psquare’s latest feud has given room to some of the enemies they made during the 2023 election, like APC Chieftain Joe Igbokwe, to mock and insult them. “So shameful that two twin brothers, Paul and Peter, cannot work together, cannot love one another, they cannot trust each other, they cannot think together, they cannot reason together, they cannot forgive each other,” Igbokwe blasted them in a post that many have praised as the bitter, painful truth.
“They cannot manage their wives, they cannot manage their success story, they cannot control their emotions, they cannot manage their internal contradictions, even their wives could not help matters,” the politician continued while asking if they don’t have parents or elders on their family. “What about their parents, their brothers and sisters, their Nnaochie? Etc. This is a shame. It pains me to no end. Now, are there no elders in the family?.”
As you can imagine, Rudeboy reacted to the post and cursed him out. He told him that, as an elder, he needed to focus on the country when he helped to destroy it because people were hungry.
As we all know, there are two sides to a story, and Peter, who has been quiet all this while, finally opened up in two-part letters he shared on Instagram. Mr P called his twin a liar and said he focused on uncovering the truth behind a secret company owned by their elder brother, Jude Okoye and his wife, Ifeoma.
Hmm! Do you think this is a case of Jude robbing Peter to pay Paul? Is there still hope for Psquare’s reconciliation now that Peter Obi is involved?
Yoruba people say that children of the same mother are only happy when they relate from a distance. This adage applies to Peter and Paul Okoye. Even Yul Edochie, whom many do not usually take advice from, shares the same opinion. The actor weigh in on the drama and said if the brothers have to stay apart to be happy and alive, let them stay apart. His post read;
“I see people saying Rudeboy go and make peace with your brother, Mr P go and make peace with your brother, I just laugh. Many people still don’t understand what life is all about. Sometimes, real peace comes from staying apart. Sometimes, even some family members have to be blocked to achieve peace. Sometimes, you just have to relate with people from a distance to have peace. Trying to be close will kill you. Life is short, especially for men. Small thing man don fall. Too much stress. That’s why we have many widows everywhere. So, you have to be intentional about your life. And life na per head. Block anybody that needs to be blocked so you can have peace. Don’t look back. Fight for yourself. Stay Alive. It’s good to see Psquare together. But if they must stay apart to be happy and alive for us, let them stay apart. We love them regardless”. Yul Edochie opined.
At a time when the African music industry was still at rock bottom, Psquare kickstarted its musical career in 1999 and dominated the space for over a decade with its massive fan base. It’s no surprise we owe our favourite blast from the past and more recent hit jams like Bizzy Body, Senorita, Temptation, Beautiful Oyinye, Chop My Money, E No Easy, Shekini and many more to the multi-talented twin brothers.
Unfortunately, in 2014, Peter and Paul began to have issues in what many initially termed as sibling rivalry, despite studies indicating that twins are born with a unique closeness and unbreakable bond because of the womb they once shared. At the time, Peter complained about his twin disrespecting him and his wife, Lola Omotayo, and over-perceived disapproval of their union due to Lola’s almost 10 years of age gap. That’s not all, Mr P also accused his brother of taking credit for their joint work in interviews, a behaviour he claimed was being enabled by their elder brother, Jude. Eventually, Peter refused to associate with the name P-square, and by 2016, the first separation was official. Peter moved out of the mansion he shared with Paul, and a lawyer was involved in splitting the properties and fortune between them.
Since then, the twins have launched individual careers, with Peter rebranding as Mr P while Paul rebranding as Rudeboy. But while the twin brothers appeared to be doing fine without the other, fans suffered as they missed Psquare, sparking calls for their reconciliation, which eventually happened six years later in November of 2021. And boy were these good times for their fans who got to hear the twins sing together again in the two-track EP they released and watch them perform on the PSquare reunion world tour. It was like a dream witnessing the Okoyes become one big happy family again, with photos and videos of them laughing and spending quality time with one another going viral.
Unfortunately, the good times of their reconciliation were short-lived, as Rudeboy recently confirmed that Psquare had split for the second time. Everyone was shocked to learn of the sad news on July 31 2024, during an interview with the talented singer on City FM. Paul said he looked forward to making many hit songs with his brother but accused Peter of derailing that plan.
The 42-year-old singer, who got divorced and is expecting a child with his new wife, Ivy Ifeoma, took fans back to what led to their initial split. According to the father-of-3, their problems started in 2014 when they released the song ‘Ejeajo’ featuring T.I., a famous American rapper. At the time, there was a debate among their fans that Paul was the songwriter with the sweet voice while Peter was just the dancer. Peter was not too happy about this and sidelined him on their song with TI, which Paul claims affected its success because fans missed his signature voice on their tracks. “We have a song we did with T.I., ‘Eja Jo’. That was when the issue started. Till today, that song is still on three million views 15 years after, because people didn’t hear the PSquare’s voice that they are used to,” Rudeboy explained, adding that he is the voice behind Psquare and writes 99 per cent of their songs.
When they got back together, Paul insisted they split everything so no one felt sidelined. “When we came back together because I didn’t want the issues that happened before, I told my brother to show himself, let us be involved in the creative process together. I told him we should share who carries the tracks equally…,” he explained. They also agreed to do their magic without their elder brother’s interference since people blamed Jude for their initial split.
But all of a sudden, Rudeboy said his brother woke up one morning and said he was no longer interested in working with him. “The new PSquare was peaceful. I needed the past mistakes not to repeat themselves. But then again, he said he’s no more doing. In fact, he told me in the face that he wants to quit. I asked if we could make it public and he refused. But what will happen when I go solo? People will call me a bad person. That’s why I’m speaking up now,” he explained.
After calling it quit, Paul accused his twin of writing a petition against him to the EFCC in December of 2023, forcing him to procure a surety and lawyer. Even worse, the investigations led to the anti-graft agency going through his financial records, which made him sad because he would have been caught if he had done something bad like internet fraud. Thankfully, he was cleared of all allegations, but Peter refused to apologise even then.
Hours after the interview with City FM, Rudeboy again had another interview with Wazobia FM on August 1 2024, during which he told fans to expect nothing from Psquare for now. The singer further bragged that fans would not miss Psquare because he was still making music and was the voice behind Psquare all along.
Totally snubbing his twin brother, many people fed into the sibling rivalry and began to bash Peter as the bad guy and even compare who was more talented of the twins. This became the straw that broke the camel’s back.
On August 13, 2024, Mr P wrote an open letter to his brother in which he made four points that implied Paul had been fueling the sibling rivalry.
First, Peter says he is not in any competition with Paul. However, it is sad watching him give interviews where he constantly discredits his efforts in the group. Like Paul’s recent interview where he claimed to have written and sung 99 per cent of Psquare songs, even going as far as mentioning that their song with TI was a failure and had only 3 million views on YouTube because Peter wrote and sang it. Mr P asked his brother if other songs like Bizzy Body, Get Squared, Personally, Roll It, Temptation, Alingo, More Than a Friend, Shekini, Say Your Love, Gimme Dat, Senorita, and Igbedu were also failures since he wrote them.
Second, Peter said that, unlike his twin, he always uses the words ‘we’ and ‘us’ during interviews because they are a team. But Rudeboy prefers to use words like ‘I’ and ‘me’, even though what made them special was the magic that came from their combined talent and efforts. Peter says he often praises Paul for his songwriting ability and often praises those who wrote for him as well, but instead of appreciating his kind words, Paul loves to rub them in his face.
Third, Mr P claimed his twin joined forces with their elder brother to claim the number one spot in the Psquare group instead of joining forces with him to reclaim their number 1 spot in the music industry. According to Peter, Paul believes he is the author and finisher of Psquare, and now he is taking his hands completely off, which has left him 100 per cent of everything rather than the 99 per cent he claims. But he asked if their solo careers as Rudeboy and Mr P are now bigger and more successful than Psquare.
Well, we all know the answer to that, right?
Fourth, Peter asked his twin what he really gains from belittling and disrespecting him all the time. The talented singer and dancer accused Paul of disrespecting his wife, family, talent, and ideas and even took sides with Jude when he was oppressing him. Mr P says his twin has been doing and saying everything to get fans to hate him, but guess what? They will never hate him. ” Instead, they will hate us both because we have disappointed and failed them,” he lamented.
Concluding his points, Peter asked Paul if he was now happy.
In another statement that followed, Peter addressed the allegations that he reported Paul to the EFCC. Not only did he deny the allegations, but Mr P called his twin a liar. According to the singer, he reported their elder brother Jude and his wife, Ifeoma Okoye, to the EFCC, not Paul.
First, the talented dancer disclosed that Peter, Paul, and Jude Okoye own a management company called Northside Entertainment. They use the company to manage all of P-Square’s affairs. One day, Peter discovered another company with a similar name, but this one was called Northside Music. When he investigated further, the founders and directors of this secret company turned out to be his elder brother, Jude Okoye, and his wife, Ifeoma Okoye. The registered address was the family home of Jude’s wife.
Peter 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 singer said despite attempts to discuss the matter with Paul and Jude, they left him with no choice but to involve the authorities, especially after Paul told him to go and do his worst. This was when he wrote a petition against Jude and his wife. “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 directors of. All of Jude’s bank accounts were immediately frozen,” he explained.
Mr P revealed that the EFCC also found that Jude, through the secret company, had been collecting Psquare royalties, which had been sent to a bureau de change and then to Jude’s personal account. They found that after the money entered Jude’s personal account, he split the funds equally with Paul, without Peter. Of course, this led to many questions, and Jude confessed that he was paying Paul the money he owed him to sell their joint property in the US. “This is the reason why Paul has been telling everyone that the EFCC has paid cleared hum, as if I ever wanted him to get into trouble with the EFCC,” he wrote.
According to Peter, Paul was never mentioned in the petition. However, the EFCC had to invite people who have had any transactional dealings with the secret company, including Paul, Jason Njoku, Amaju Pinnick, and others. Peter insisted his twin brothers name was not mentioned in the petition and challenged anyone to show any petition where he named his brother. “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 asked.
Amidst these allegations, Paul Okoye and his ex-wife, Anita, have unfollowed each other. Jude’s wife, Ifeoma, also has unfollowed Peters’s wife, Lola Omotayo, reducing the once-upon-a-time happy family into shambles once again.
Hmm…you all will agree that this is a lot to unpack. Does this mean there is no hope of Psquare ever coming back?
Is Peter and Paul done and dusted, especially since Paul confirmed that the person who used to mediate between them is no more?
Do you think their elder brother, Jude, is to blame for their split again?
How about Joe Igbokwe’s reaction to the Psquare split? Was he speaking the bitter truth? How about Yul Edochi’s Opinion?
What do you think about Peter Obi’s attempts to reconcile PSquare? Will it work?