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By Sunny A. David, Awka
Anambra State Government has announced plans to end the long-standing Monday sit-at-home practice among public and civil servants by introducing an attendance-based salary system.
From February 2026, civil servants will be paid on a pro-rata basis, with wages calculated according to the number of days they report to work. The decision was reached during the end-of-tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council (ANSEC) held in Awka.
The retreat reviewed the Soludo administration’s performance over the past four years and outlined priorities for the new tenure set to commence on March 17, 2026.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, said the government was deeply concerned about the persistent absenteeism of workers on Mondays, a trend that has continued despite improvements in security and transportation across the State.
According to him, many civil servants had previously cited insecurity and lack of transport as reasons for staying away from work, but those excuses are no longer valid.
“Workers are simply enjoying the sit-at-home because they know that whether they come to work or not, salaries will still be paid,” Mefor said.
He explained that although such absenteeism could attract sanctions under civil service rules, including dismissal, the government opted for a more measured approach.
Instead, salaries will now be tied to attendance. “If you do not want to lose your pay for Monday, then you must come to work,” he said.
Mefor disclosed that attendance monitoring mechanisms are already being put in place, including the use of attendance registers that will allow workers to clock in at the start of work and clock out at closing time on Mondays.
He noted that the continued closure of government offices on Mondays has negatively affected productivity and revenue generation across the State.
“Any day civil servants fail to come to work, government business stagnates, and by implication, the State’s economy also stagnates,” he said, citing agencies such as the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) and other Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) as major revenue losers.
The commissioner emphasized that the policy is aimed at promoting fairness, efficiency, and sustainable public spending.
“We cannot abandon Mondays and make Saturdays working days. That would amount to surrendering to those who imposed the sit-at-home and would make Anambra the only state in Nigeria working on Saturdays,” he said.
He added that it would be unreasonable to expect markets and the informal sector to operate on Mondays while government workers stay away from work.
On the salary calculations method, Mefor explained that monthly wages would be divided by the 24 official working days in a month to determine each worker’s daily pay, which would then be deducted for any day missed.
“The decision had to be taken. Four years is enough,” he said, adding that international assessments estimate the economic losses from the sit-at-home policy to run into trillions of naira.
Mefor also revealed that the government is engaging market leaders to encourage traders to reopen on Mondays, while security measures across the State are being strengthened to boost confidence and ensure safe business operations.
He concluded that the policy is firm and that implementation has already begun.
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