The Anambra State Government has announced that, effective February 2026, salaries for civil servants will be paid on a pro-rata basis in response to the ongoing Monday sit-at-home directive enforced by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

The measure is intended to encourage workers to resume duties on Mondays and mitigate economic losses linked to the weekly shutdowns.

The state Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, disclosed the decision on Saturday in Awka, explaining that the initiative was adopted during the end-of-tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council.

“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 state government has taken, and the implementation is already ongoing,” Mefor said.

He clarified that salaries will be calculated based on a 24-working-day month, dividing a worker’s pay to determine the amount due at the end of the month.

The retreat, he said, reviewed the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo over the past four years and outlined priorities for the new term commencing March 17, 2026.

“The retreat acknowledged that even though these factors existed in the past, they no longer exist, making them invalid reasons for absenteeism from work. The workers were simply enjoying the sit-at-home because they knew that whether they came to work or not, they would be paid salaries,” Mefor stated.

He added that, under normal circumstances, persistent absence on Mondays could be treated as a case of absenteeism leading to dismissal, as provided in civil service law, but the government has opted for a pro rata approach instead.

“The ANSEC retreat has decided to put a stop to the anomaly. 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,” Mefor explained.

The commissioner noted that absenteeism on Mondays disrupts the operations of government agencies and hinders state revenue.

“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. Income accruable to the 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 and other MDAs decide to be absent from work on Monday, the state loses a lot of money and impedes the progress of work,” he said.

Mefor added that the pro-rata measure is intended to ensure fairness and efficiency, while signalling that the state will not yield to the sit-at-home order.

“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,” he said.

Negotiations are reportedly ongoing with market leaders to encourage traders to resume activity on Mondays.

The state government is also enhancing security measures to provide assurance to businesses and encourage compliance.

“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,” Mefor added.