The Anambra State Government has announced plans to introduce Pro-Rata payment of salaries for civil servants beginning February 2026, in a bid to curb the long-running Monday sit-at-home practice.
The decision was reached at the end of the State Executive Council (SEC) tenure retreat held on Friday in Awka, where members reviewed the performance of Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration over the last four years and outlined priorities for the new term starting March 17, 2026.
Briefing journalists on Saturday, the Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, said the council observed that many civil and public servants had consistently stayed away from work on Mondays over the past four years.
According to him, the council agreed that the circumstances that once disrupted normal work routines no longer existed, making continued Monday absenteeism unjustifiable.
“The government observed that some workers exploited the situation, knowing they would still receive full salaries irrespective of attendance,” Mefor said.
He noted that while such conduct amounted to absenteeism punishable under civil service rules, the government opted for a less severe approach by adopting Pro-Rata salary payment.
Under the new arrangement, any worker who fails to report for duty on Mondays will forfeit the portion of their salary allocated to that day.
Mefor disclosed that mechanisms had already been put in place to enforce compliance, including the introduction of attendance registers that will require workers to clock in at resumption and clock out at closing time on Mondays.
He said persistent Monday absenteeism had significantly affected government productivity and the state’s economy.
“Every lost workday translates to stalled government business and revenue loss. Key agencies such as the Anambra Internal Revenue Service and other ministries, departments and parastatals are central to revenue generation,” he said.
Mefor explained that their absence from work on Mondays had resulted in substantial financial losses to the state.
He added that the adoption of Pro-Rata payment was guided by the principles of fairness, efficiency and sustainability in public expenditure.
The commissioner ruled out shifting official workdays to Saturdays, describing the idea as impractical and tantamount to surrendering to the sit-at-home order.
He stressed that the government could not continue encouraging markets and the informal sector to operate on Mondays while its own workforce stayed away from duty.
Mefor revealed that the government was already engaging market leaders to ensure traders resume normal business activities on Mondays, while security measures were being strengthened to restore public confidence.
On salary computation, he explained that workers’ monthly pay would be divided by the 24 official working days to determine the daily rate for Pro-Rata deductions.
He added that economic losses caused by the sit-at-home practice had run into trillions of naira over the years, based on estimates from an international firm.
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