Former banker bags 5 years in prison for manipulating customer, NNPC and government account details in ₦2.7bn fraud case

• A Lagos court convicted former banker Christopher Jackson Edeh on nine counts involving fraudulent false accounting and unauthorised computer access.

• The case involved allegedly altered account details linked to customers, the Kano State Government, the Lagos State Government and NNPC Trading Limited.

• The court imposed sentences totalling 39 years but ordered them to run concurrently, meaning the effective prison term is five years.

A former Fidelity Bank employee, Christopher Jackson Edeh, has been sentenced to five years in prison after a Lagos court convicted him of fraudulently altering customer account details and unlawfully accessing a computer system in a case involving ₦2.7 billion.

Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, delivered the judgement on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, after finding Edeh guilty on nine counts of fraudulent false accounting and unauthorised access to a computer system.

The case was prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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According to the EFCC, the charges alleged that Edeh altered the bank account details of several customers and government-related entities with intent to defraud. 

The accounts named in the case included those linked to the Kano State Government Power Intervention Fund, NNPC Trading Limited, Stallion Vision Ltd, the Lagos State Government Blue Line project, the State Contributory Pension Account and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.

An earlier report by Nairametrics also identified Dangote Cement Plc among the customers whose account details were allegedly altered while Edeh was employed by Fidelity Bank.

Edeh was first arraigned on February 28, 2024, over the allegations, which related to events in September 2023.

One of the charges alleged that he gained unauthorised access to Fidelity Bank’s Entrust portal with the intention of facilitating the theft of ₦2,737,784,800 held by the bank.

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The charge described the amount as money he allegedly intended to facilitate stealing.

During the trial, prosecuting counsel Z.B. Atiku called three witnesses and tendered documentary evidence to support the prosecution’s case. The defence called one witness.

In her judgement, Justice Abike-Fadipe held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted Edeh on all nine counts.

The court imposed five years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine on each of the first seven counts, which concerned fraudulent false accounting.

For the remaining two counts, involving unauthorised access to a computer system with intent to facilitate crimes, Edeh received two years’ imprisonment on each count, also without an option of a fine.

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Although the individual sentences add up to 39 years, the judge ordered that they run concurrently. This means Edeh will serve the sentences at the same time, making five years the effective prison term under the judgement.

The conviction followed a trial that began after Edeh pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment in 2024.