Anambra Civil Servants Lament Heavy Salary Cuts Over Sit-at-Home

• The Anambra State Government has deducted salaries of civil servants who failed to report to work on Mondays.
• One staff member of the Ministry of Information, who requested anonymity, said he received only ₦3,500 out of his usual salary of over ₦80,000. He also claimed that a colleague reportedly received just ₦100 after deductions, while another had ₦10,000 removed from her pay.
• While officials describe it as enforcement of a pro-rata pay policy, affected workers claim the deductions were excessive and inconsistent.

The Anambra State Government has implemented its earlier warning to deduct the salaries of civil servants who failed to report to work on Mondays in compliance with the sit-at-home directive in the South-East.

In January, the state government announced the introduction of a pro-rata payment system, stating that workers who do not show up on Mondays would have their salaries reduced accordingly.

On Tuesday, many civil servants expressed shock after receiving their February salaries with significant deductions. At the Jerome Udoji State Secretariat in Awka, several workers complained that the cuts did not reflect the actual number of Mondays they were absent.

One staff member of the Ministry of Information, who requested anonymity, said he received only ₦3,500 out of his usual salary of over ₦80,000. He also claimed that a colleague reportedly received just ₦100 after deductions, while another had ₦10,000 removed from her pay.

Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, confirmed that the salary reductions were penalties for failing to report to work on Mondays. He explained that workers were required to clock in and clock out as proof of attendance. According to him, failure to follow the procedure was treated as absence from duty.

He said: “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.” write a simple article, make a short summary and headline options