As part of efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home in the state, the Anambra State Government has announced that effective February 2026, salaries of civil servants in the state, will be paid pro rata.
The agreement was reached during the end of tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council, held in Awka.
The retreat was to review the activities of the Chukwuma Soludo administration in the concludingfour year tenure, as well as craft a better focus for the new term commencing on the 17th of March, 2026.
The State Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, who made the disclosure in an exclusive chat with the News Chronicle correspondent in Awka on Friday, said the retreat observed that for the past four years, Anambra public and civil servants do not show up for work on Mondays due to the sit-at-home, citing insecurity and unavailability of transportation facilities.
Mefor noted that the retreat acknowledged that even though these factors existed in the past, they no more exist, making them invalid reasons for absenteeism from work.
According to him, the workers were simply enjoying the sit-at-home because they know that whether they come to work or not, they will be paid salaries.
The commissioner revealed that the ANSEC retreat has decided to put a stop to the anomaly.
“Ordinarily, the matter should be treated as a case of absenteeism, which could lead to dismissal from service, as is captured in the civil service law.
“But we are not following that route. The government has decided that it is paying pro rata from this February. So if you don’t want to lose your salary for that Monday, then you come to work.
“The mechanism is already in place and forms are being devised, so that workers can clock in on Monday morning and clock out at the close of work,” he revealed.
Mefor while noting that the absence of the civil servants from work on Mondays impacts negatively on the productivity of government, saying that, “Any day civil servants fails to come to work, it means that government business will stagnate and by implication, the economy of the state will stagnate. Income accrueable to government will be lost and there’s no guarantee that such losses can be recovered. For example, if the staff of the Anambra Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, and other MDAs decide to absent from work on Monday, the state loses a lot of monies and impedes the progress of work.”
The Commissioner explained that part of the reason for the decision to pay pro rata, is to ensure that every naira spent reflects fairness, efficiency, and sustainability.
He said, “Do we now say we give up Monday and take Saturday as a working day? That will not work. It will mean that Anambra State has yielded to whoever introduced this sit-at-home, and again, we will be the only state working on Saturdays in Nigeria, and that will be absurd.
“So, it is only reasonable to start with this pro rata payment to get the workers to resume on Mondays.
“The state is losing so much due to the sit-at-home and the government cannot be asking the markets and other informal sector to show up on Monday, when its own workforce has refused to come.”
Mefor revealed that negotiation is already ongoing to get the market leaders to see reasons to open on Mondays.
He also said the government is also boosting security as a way of building the traders’ confidence to come out on Mondays and do their legitimate businesses.
On how the pro rata payment will be calculated, the Commissioner said the 24 working days of the month will be used to divide up the worker’s salary to be able to get what they would get at the end of the month
“The thing has to be done. Four years is enough. The economic loss of the sit-at-home runs into trillions since it started, according to an international firm.
“It is a decision the government has taken and the implementation is already on,” Mefor concluded.
