A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Abuja has convicted and sentenced a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Robert Orya, to a cumulative 490 years’ imprisonment over a ₦2.4 billion fraud.
The conviction was secured by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, February 5, 2026. This followed a prolonged trial bordering on financial crimes allegedly committed by Orya while he was in office between 2011 and 2016.
Delivering judgment, Justice F. E. Messiri found Orya guilty on all 49 counts filed against him, which bordered on fraud, abuse of office and related offences. Consequently, the court sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment on each count, amounting to a total of 490 years.
In a statement issued on its official social media platforms after the ruling, the EFCC described the judgment as the culmination of a case that uncovered large-scale financial abuse at the development finance institution.
“The EFCC, today, February 5, 2026, secured the conviction of Robert Orya, a former managing director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM, for fraud amounting to about ₦2.4 billion,” the commission said.
“Orya, who was prosecuted by EFCC counsel Samuel Ugwuegbulam, was convicted by Justice F. E. Messiri of the FCT High Court, Abuja, and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on each of the 49-count charges.”
Orya was first arraigned before the court on November 25, 2021, on charges including criminal breach of trust, impersonation, misappropriation of public funds, official corruption, fraud and abuse of office.
According to the prosecution, the former NEXIM boss abused his position to unlawfully obtain over ₦1.368 billion from the bank, alongside other fraudulent transactions that formed the basis of the 49-count charge.
