The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Tuesday affirmed the conviction and sentence of a former Managing Director of Nigeria Export Import (NEXIM) Bank, Robert Orya.
The appellate court affirmed Orya’s conviction. He was found guilty by the FCT High Court on all 49 counts and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on each count, totalling 490 years.
Daily Trust reports that the convict served as the Managing Director of NEXIM Bank between 2009 and 2016.
He was appointed to the position on August 14, 2009, by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and reappointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan on August 18, 2014.
After leaving office, the convict was arraigned in 2021 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a 49-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretenses, forgery and advance fee fraud to the tune of N2.4 billion.
Orya was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 490 years’ imprisonment on February 5, 2026, by a Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, and the sentences are to run concurrently.
Dissatisfied with the judgement of Justice F.E. Messiri of the FCT High Court, the convict approached the appellate court for reprieve while demanding that his conviction be set aside.
Delivering their judgement, a three-man panel of the appellate court led by Justice Muhammed Danjuma ruled that the trial judge, Justice Messiri, was right, judging that the prosecution proved its case beyond every reasonable doubt.
