The Anambra State Government has begun implementing a pro-rata salary payment system for civil servants, in order to halt the widely observed Monday sit-at-home and restore regular public service operations, effective February 2026. The new pay regime is aimed at compelling workers to report for duty on Mondays or forfeit pay for days not worked.
The announcement was made on Saturday in Awka by Dr. Law Mefor, the state Commissioner for Information, who briefed journalists after the end-of-tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council (ANSEC). The retreat, held to assess the outgoing administration and set strategic priorities for the incoming term starting March 17, 2026, also addressed the persistent Monday sit-at-home that has disrupted economic and educational activities across the state.
Dr. Mefor noted that over the past four years, many civil servants have frequently stayed away from work on Mondays under the guise of insecurity and transport challenges, conditions that he said no longer hold. “The retreat acknowledged that even though these factors existed in the past, they no longer exist, making them invalid reasons for absenteeism from work,” he said.
Mefor further stated, “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.” It was this “anomaly,” he explained, that the council resolved to address through the pro-rata salary policy rather than disciplinary measures under civil service law.
Under the new system, the monthly salary of each worker will be divided using the standard 24 working days, and payment will reflect only days actually worked. “So if you don’t want to lose your salary for that Monday, then you come to work,” Mefor said, adding that forms are being designed to enable staff to “clock in on Monday morning and clock out at the close of work.”
Highlighting the broader economic implications, the commissioner said the sit-at-home practice has had a debilitating effect on state business. “Any day civil servants fail to come to work, it means that the state government’s business will stagnate and, by implication, the economy of the state will stagnate,” he said. According to Mefor, income that would otherwise accrue to the government is lost, particularly when key revenue-generating agencies such as the Anambra Internal Revenue Service are idle.
Mefor added: “This is part of the reason for the decision to pay pro-rata; it is to ensure that every naira spent reflects fairness, efficiency, and sustainability.” He rejected the idea of compensating lost Mondays with Saturday work, saying this would signal a capitulation to those behind the sit-at-home and place Anambra in an anomalous position among Nigerian states.
The pro-rata salary policy aligns with other recent measures to normalise weekly activities. In a separate directive dated January 22, 2026, the state government abolished the closure of schools on Mondays and warned that any teacher or non-teaching staff who fails to comply risks losing part or all of their salary. That letter, signed by Loveline Mgbemena, Board Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Board, was circulated to education officials across all 21 local government areas to ensure strict enforcement.
In addition to civil service reforms, Mefor said the government is engaging market leaders to encourage traders to open on Mondays and is strengthening security measures to boost confidence among business communities. “The state is losing so much due to the sit-at-home and the government cannot be asking the markets and other informal sectors to show up on Monday when its own workforce has refused to come,” he said.
Concluding his remarks, the commissioner underscored the urgency of the policy shift: “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.”
