A guilty verdict passed on former Managing Director of Nigeria Export Import (NEXIM) Bank, Robert Orya, by a Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court has been upheld by an Appeal Court.
The former had convicted Orya on all 49 counts and sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment on each count, totaling 490 years.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Tuesday affirmed the conviction.
He 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.
Dissatisfied by his conviction and sentencing, he by Justice F.E. Messiri of the FCT High Court, the convict approached the appellate demanding that his conviction be set aside.
Delivering their judgment, 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 against Robert Orya beyond every reasonable doubt.
Justice Danjuma, who led two other justices, Ntong Ntong and Ele Enenche, in a unanimous judgement, said, “I have considered all briefs filed by counsel and have gone through the record of the trial court and adopted it and the issues as formulated by this appellate court in resolving this appeal.
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“I looked at each and every issue, and in my final analysis, all the issues formulated for the determination of this appeal are resolved in favour of the respondent and against the appellant. This appeal is devoid of any merit and is hereby dismissed.
“The judgement of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory delivered on February 5, 2026 in charge number FSC/SC/CS/487/2021 is hereby affirmed.”
