AN 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 massive ₦2.4 billion fraud.
News Point Nigeria reports that Justice F.E. Messiri on Thursday handed down the sentence after finding Orya guilty on 49 counts bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, and diversion of public funds.
The court sentenced the former bank chief to 10 years’ imprisonment on each count, with the sentences to run consecutively, bringing the total jail term to 490 years.
The prosecution was brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which arraigned Orya through its counsel, Samuel Ugwuegbulem.
According to the EFCC, the offences were committed during Orya’s tenure as managing director of NEXIM Bank between 2009 and 2016, a period when he was entrusted with overseeing public funds meant to promote Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.
The anti-graft agency told the court that Orya abused his position by fraudulently diverting funds belonging to the bank, amounting to approximately ₦2.4 billion, through a series of illegal transactions and approvals that violated financial regulations and internal controls.
In delivering judgment, Justice Messiri held that the prosecution successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, relying on documentary evidence and witness testimonies that established a clear pattern of financial misconduct.
The judge rejected the defence’s arguments, ruling that Orya’s actions constituted a grave abuse of public trust, particularly given the strategic role of NEXIM Bank in driving Nigeria’s economic diversification.
Orya had served as NEXIM’s managing director at a time when the bank was undergoing reforms aimed at repositioning it to support non-oil exports and recover from earlier financial difficulties. He was often credited publicly for championing initiatives to boost export financing and improve the bank’s performance.
However, the EFCC maintained that behind those reforms, significant sums were being unlawfully diverted, undermining the bank’s mandate and causing substantial financial loss to the federal government.
The conviction adds to a growing list of high-profile corruption cases pursued by the EFCC involving senior public officials and heads of government institutions.
As of press time, the defence team had not indicated whether it would appeal the judgment.
