THE Edo State government and the Coalition of Unions of state-owned Tertiary Institutions, (COASU) yesterday disagreed over salary arrears.

While the state government said it had fulfilled all financial obligations to teachers in its employ, COASU, on the other hand insisted that its members were being owed salaries and allowances.

Reacting to the protest by the unions which held yesterday in some major streets of Benin City, the state capital where they claimed five-month pay arrears, the state Commissioner for Education, Gideon Obakhan maintained that the Governor Adams Oshiomhole administration was not owing owe any of it works force.

But in a swift reaction, COASU President, Comrade Fred Omonuwa, accused government of being economical with the truth.

“It is not true as I have said several times. We didn’t request for bailout, instead we said they should pay us our salaries. They are owing the colleges in the coalition for between three and five months. We embarked on another street protest in December because the state government was still owing us and as I speak with you now, they are still owing us.

“The problem started about two years ago when we started our agitation. At a point, they used the trust fund or corporative to pay us. After the first tranche of about N89 million they paid in 2014 to bail the school out of the crisis, they set up an investigative panel and after that, it never came out with any other payment. The government is owing us and we are embarrassed.”

But the commissioner told reporters that “the issue with the coalition of tertiary institutions union is between them and their management. Every month, the state government gives subvention to these institutions and they are expected to also generate revenue internally to be able to run the schools.

“I think it is either misunderstandings of how these institutions are run on the part of the coalition or people are just trying to be mischievous.

“It is untrue that the ministry has not wadded into the crisis between the union and their management. We have series of meetings in my office where they appeal for support and bailout and in December last year, close to the Christmas period, the governor, in order to reduce the pressure on the workers who were saying the schools have not paid them, approved a bailout for them which was paid to the institutions.

“I have received messages from these institutions that they have received same and have also paid their workers”.