The Anambra State Government has announced the introduction of pro-rata salary payments for public servants as part of renewed efforts to end the long-running Monday sit-at-home across the state.
Under the new policy, which takes effect from February 2026, civil servants will be paid according to attendance, with salaries calculated on a pro-rata basis.
The State Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, disclosed this to journalists in Awka on Saturday, saying the decision was reached during the end-of-tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council (ANSEC).
According to Mefor, the retreat reviewed the performance of Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration over the past four years and set priorities for the new term beginning on March 17, 2026.
He noted that public servants in the state had frequently stayed away from work on Mondays over the past four years due to the sit-at-home, often citing insecurity and transportation challenges.
“The retreat acknowledged that while these factors existed in the past, they no longer do,” Mefor said. “They are therefore no longer valid reasons for absenteeism.”
He added that many workers had continued to observe the sit-at-home because salaries were paid regardless of attendance.
“The anomaly has to stop,” he said. “Ordinarily, absenteeism of this nature could attract dismissal under civil service rules. However, the government has decided on a more measured approach by introducing pro-rata payment.”
Under the arrangement, workers who fail to report for duty on Mondays will lose the corresponding portion of their salaries. Attendance will be monitored through a clock-in and clock-out system to be implemented across ministries, departments and agencies.
Mefor said the continued absence of civil servants on Mondays had significantly affected government productivity and revenue generation.
“Any day civil servants do not come to work, government business stagnates, and by extension, the state economy suffers,” he said. “If agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service stay away from work, the state loses substantial revenue, much of which cannot be recovered.”
He said the pro-rata policy was designed to promote fairness, efficiency and sustainability in public spending.
“We cannot abandon Mondays and make Saturdays working days. That would mean yielding to the sit-at-home and becoming the only state working on Saturdays, which would be unreasonable,” he added.
Mefor said discussions were ongoing with market leaders to encourage the reopening of markets on Mondays, while the government is also strengthening security measures to boost traders’ confidence.
Explaining how the new payment system would work, the commissioner said each worker’s salary would be divided by the 24 official working days in a month to determine earnings.
“The economic losses from the sit-at-home run into trillions of naira, according to an international firm,” Mefor said. “Four years is enough. This decision has been taken, and implementation has already begun.”
