Who Issues CoS? Employer or Home Office

Hello Sirs,
I want to renew my Tier 2 visa and requested for a CoS from my employer.
My employer said it will take Home Office 18weeks to issue my CoS.
I called Home Office about it and I was told that it is my employer's responsibility to issue me with CoS being an authorized sponsor of CoS.
I am confuse about the different positions. Please I need help with regard to clarification of who issues the certificate of sponsorship. Is it Home Office or Employer
Ochuko

Your sponsor/employer, not the HO, assigns the CoS to you.

In case of an extension, If they have an unrestricted CoS allocation available, they can do this immediately, otherwise they have to apply for an allocation the processing of which can take around 2 weeks. However, if your job SOC code changes an RLMT also has to be carried out before the CoS can be assigned (min. 4 weeks) and your application is then called "change of employment" rather than extension.