Abuja, September 8, 2026: Justice Muhammed Danjuma of the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday affirmed the conviction and cumulative 490-year prison sentence imposed on Roberts U. Orya, former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM, over a N2.4 billion fraud case. TheCable+2

The unanimous decision was delivered by a three-member panel comprising Justice Muhammed Danjuma, who led the judgment, Justice Ntong Festus Ntong and Justice Ele Ejo Enenche.

Also read: ASUU Sokoto issues fresh strike threat over unpaid entitlements

The panel dismissed Orya’s appeal and upheld the February 5, 2026 judgment of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.

Justice Danjuma said the panel had reviewed the briefs filed by counsel and examined the record of the trial court before resolving the issues raised in favour of the respondent and against Orya.

“This appeal is devoid of any merit and is hereby dismissed,” Justice Danjuma said, adding that the judgment delivered by Justice F.E. Messiri on February 5 was affirmed.

The ruling brings a significant setback to Orya’s attempt to overturn a conviction secured by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after a prolonged criminal trial.

Orya was first arraigned by the EFCC in November 2021 on a 49-count charge involving obtaining money by false pretences, forgery and advance fee fraud. The allegations concerned transactions and loans linked to NEXIM Bank during his tenure as its managing director.

At the trial court, Justice Messiri found Orya guilty on all 49 counts after holding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The judge imposed 10 years’ imprisonment on each count, producing a cumulative sentence of 490 years.

The distinction is important. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, meaning Orya does not face 490 years of imprisonment in succession.

The concurrent terms mean the custodial sentence operates as a 10-year term rather than 490 consecutive years.

The EFCC alleged that Orya abused his position at NEXIM Bank to obtain more than N1.4 billion from the institution as part of the broader N2.4 billion case.

Prosecutors also alleged that companies were incorporated using the names of non-existent individuals or people whose identities were used without their consent to secure loans that remained unpaid for years.

One of the transactions highlighted during the prosecution involved a loan of N488 million to Treasure Mix Construction Limited, which prosecutors said was obtained through false pretences. The case also involved allegations concerning Luxurium Leisure Services Limited and other entities.

Orya pleaded not guilty to the charges and subsequently challenged the February conviction and sentence before the Court of Appeal. The appellate court has now rejected that challenge, leaving the trial court’s findings intact.

The case marks the latest stage in a legal process that has stretched across five years, from Orya’s 2021 arraignment to the February 2026 conviction and Tuesday’s appellate ruling.

Orya’s career at NEXIM had begun more than a decade before the criminal proceedings.

NEXIM’s 2014 audited financial statements identify Roberts U. Orya as managing director, while contemporary records show that he assumed the bank’s leadership in August 2009.

He was appointed on August 14, 2009, by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and was reappointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan on August 18, 2014. He remained at the helm until 2016.

During his tenure, Orya publicly promoted NEXIM’s role in supporting non-oil exports and improving Nigeria’s trade capacity.

Contemporary accounts also credited his administration with efforts to strengthen the bank’s focus on export financing and corporate governance.

That earlier institutional record now sits alongside a powerful judicial finding that the prosecution established the criminal allegations contained in the 49-count case beyond reasonable doubt.

With the Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision, the Robert Orya 490-year fraud sentence has been affirmed, although its concurrent structure means the practical prison term remains 10 years.

Also read: ASUU Sokoto issues fresh strike threat over unpaid entitlements

The judgment represents a decisive moment in one of the more prominent recent fraud prosecutions involving a former head of a Nigerian development finance institution.