A Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced Minnis Uchenna Howard and his company, Howard Minnis Asset Management Limited, over the fraudulent conversion of N822,422,260 meant for the purchase of base oil.
The conviction followed the successful prosecution of the case by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice R. A. Oshodi on Friday.
The anti-graft agency said in a statement that the defendants were initially arraigned on November 30, 2023, on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and stealing. They, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were first read to them.
During the trial, the prosecution, led by M. K. Bashir, called four witnesses and tendered several documents as exhibits, while the defence presented two witnesses.
The EFCC said the defendants were later re-arraigned on July 3, 2026, on an amended one-count charge.
The charge read: “That you, Minnis Uchenna Howard and Howard Minnis Asset Management Limited, sometime in 2023 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of N822,422,260.00, property of Krystal Lubes Limited, paid to you for the purchase of 900,000 litres of SN900 Base Oil and 500,000 litres of SN500 Base Oil, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 285(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”
The defendants pleaded guilty to the amended charge.
Following the guilty plea, prosecution counsel urged the court to convict the defendants as
