Peter Okoye apologises and calls out brother Rudeboy

Nigerian singer Peter "Mr P" Okoye, who was part of the popular music group Psquare, has said sorry for his comments about Nigerian languages. He also accused his twin brother, Paul, known as Rudeboy, of always trying to bring him down.

Mr P faced backlash on social media after he shared on his X page on Monday that he was thinking of buying a house in Paris because his children speak French well.

An X user named Don Buddy asked if his children could speak Igbo. Mr P replied by asking what Nigerian languages had done for him. This comment got him a lot of criticism from social media users.

Many people called him out for belittling the native language he has sung in for years. They argued that local languages are key to keeping Nigeria's cultural heritage alive.

While some users defended him, saying he has the right to raise his kids how he wants, the criticism continued to grow on Wednesday.

Responding to the backlash on Wednesday, the 44-year-old tweeted that people did not understand what he meant.

He explained that his tweet was not meant to attack the Igbo language or any culture. He admitted that he was responsible for how people took his words.

Mr P said, "If my response to ‘Who Naija language help?’ upset some people, I apologise and take full responsibility for my words. That doesn’t mean I hate Nigerian languages or our culture. It all started from an innocent tweet where I said my kids speak French, and it made me think maybe I should buy a house in Paris.

"Somehow, that turned into something completely different. At no point did I say I hate the Igbo language or Igbo culture. I said ‘Naija language,’ referring to the different languages in Nigeria, but some people twisted it to make it seem like I was specifically referring to Igbo. I didn’t."

However, the "Winning" singer claimed that Rudeboy twisted his words about language to harm his reputation.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported on the ongoing dispute between the singers and their older brother, Jude Okoye, over claims of misusing money from their music group.

This issue is in court and led Mr P to change his birthday from 18 November to 30 November.

He accused his twin brother, saying, "But again, bro, you’re at it again, using this moment as another opportunity to pull me down. Just like I wrote in my open letter two years ago, doing everything possible to make people hate me will never work.

"Yes, people are dragging me over my statement, and that’s okay. We all have moments where our words can be misunderstood or where we could have expressed ourselves better. I accept that. But deliberately twisting my words and using petty tactics to damage my reputation says a lot."

Mr P also questioned why Rudeboy always looks for chances to make negative comments whenever he is under fire.

"The other time, you threw shades at me and even age-shamed me for still dancing at my age. Now it’s this again.

"At this point, I think it’s only fair I start giving the same energy I receive. No more Mr Nice Guy. It’s aura for aura, Egusi for Egusi, Oha for Oha," he said.

As of now, Rudeboy has not replied to the accusations from Mr P. A check on his social media pages shows that his latest post was about promoting his song.