The Anambra State Government has deducted from the February salaries of workers who did not report to duty on Mondays, days previously observed as sit-at-home in line with directives by the Indigenous People of Biafra.
The government said it has introduced pro-rata salary payments for civil servants in a move aimed at discouraging the continued observance of the Monday sit-at-home. It explained that beginning from February 2026, workers’ salaries would be calculated based on attendance.
Despite this, several employees complained of heavy deductions.
At the Jerome Udoji State Secretariat in Awka, some staff members told journalists that the deductions did not correspond with the number of Mondays they were absent.
One worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that a colleague received just N10,000 as February salary after the deductions were made.
Another staff member from the Ministry of Information said, “Out of my total salary of over N80,000, I received just N3,500.”
“One of my colleagues said she received her salary with N10,000 deducted. The cuts are irregular, but I think there were errors in the computation because some people who missed work only once or twice had substantial deductions from their salaries,” a worker explained.
Another affected employee also expressed concern, saying, “I am surprised to see huge deductions when I received the alert for my February salary. Over N80,000 was deducted for missing work for two Mondays. I think it was miscalculated, as two Mondays were not supposed to be up to that amount.”
When contacted on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, confirmed that the salary reductions were intended as a disciplinary measure.
“The salary cut is a punishment for failure to come to work on Mondays.
“The instruction was that when you come to work on Mondays, you clock in, and at the close of work, you clock out. That is to show that you came to work.
“But, if you came to work on Mondays, but you didn’t clock in, and didn’t clock out, it means that you didn’t come to work because there is no evidence to show that you came to work,” Mefor said.
