The Anambra State Government has announced a new move to curb the ongoing Monday sit-at-home enforced by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB): civil servants who skip work on Mondays will now have their salaries paid on a pro-rata basis, effective February 2026.
State Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, revealed the decision on Saturday in Awka, explaining that the measure is to getting workers back to their desks and limiting the economic losses caused by weekly shutdowns.
“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 now be calculated based on a 24-working-day month, meaning workers who skip Monday will see their pay adjusted accordingly.
The directive emerged from the end-of-tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council, which reviewed Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration and set priorities for the new term starting 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.
While absenteeism under civil service law could lead to dismissal, the government has chosen the pro-rata approach as a fairer alternative.
“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.
He stressed that Monday absences disrupt government operations and hinder 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 made it known that the move signals the government will not yield to the sit-at-home directive.
“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 with market leaders are reportedly underway to encourage traders to reopen on Mondays, while security measures are being strengthened to reassure businesses and boost 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 concluded.
