The Edo wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) are at loggerheads over the removal of the Leave Transport Grants (LTG).

They have also disagreed over the annual increment of salaries of primary school teachers.

The NUT which described the action as unlawful, said that they would resist any attempt to deprive them of their lawful earnings.

The development is contained in a communiqué issued at the end of an emergency meeting of the NUT and signed by the State Chairman, Mr Mike Uhunmwangho and the Secretary, Akin Adeojo.

The communiqué which was made available to journalists on Sunday also alleged that the removal was a conspiracy between ALGON and the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

The communiqué noted that the action was presently delaying the payment of January salaries of primary school teachers in the state.

It said the ministry of local government unlawfully wrote to the Managing Director of Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) to adjust forthwith the payrolls of primary school teachers by removing the LTG and increment.

“The NUT was not involved in or consulted with in respect of any decision to expunge lawful items from the salary payrolls of teachers.

“As a result, the NUT gave Feb. 19 deadline for the payment of complete salaries as already prepared by the ICTA to all primary school teachers in the state.’’

It also demanded the withdrawal of the letter written by the ministry of local government to the managing director of ICTA.

The communiqué said the NUT added that printouts for February 2016 and subsequent months should contain LTG and annual increment as had been the case in the past.

It said the teachers noted that fulfillment of the above demands was the only way industrial peace could be guaranteed in the state.

Meanwhile, ALGON has said that the LTG and annual increment had not been removed from the salaries of primary school teachers.

It said that they were only suspended in the face of dwindling allocation from the federal revenue.

The state ALGON Chairperson, Mrs Itohan Osahon-Ogbeide, said the suspension was the only way to guarantee the regular payment of salaries to primary school teachers in Edo.

“The revenue accruing to the state and local government from the federal allocation has dropped drastically, as a result, what is got by the councils is not even enough to pay teachers salaries as many councils in the state are on minus.

“In order not to owe any particular local government teacher since they are all paid in bulk, we decided that the LTG and the annual increment should be withheld forthwith pending when allocation will improve then the arrears will be cleared.

“It is not a decision to stop them from earning their lawful salaries but we are only saying it should be suspended to give some breathing space and enable all councils to pay instead of few paying teachers.

“It will interest you to know that it is not only that of teachers that are being suspended, but other council workers as well.

“Our appeal to the teachers is for them to be patient.

“If we have been fair enough to pay them all their salaries and allowances up to date, now that things are not okay, they should equally bear with us.

“We mean well but the constraint arising from the low allocation cannot accommodate all the allowances for now, definitely whatever they are being owed will be paid as things normalise. ‎(NAN)

•Photo shows Gov. Oshiomhole.

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