‘Call 112 Now’ — APC Chieftain Boast on ‘Emergency Number’ as Tinubu’s Achievement, but Call Fails to Connect on Live TV (Video)

• Nigeria’s 112 emergency number failed to connect during a live test after APC chieftain Alwan Hassan challenged presenter Seun Okinbaloye to dial it on air.

A live demonstration of Nigeria’s 112 emergency number ended with a failed call on Tuesday after All Progressives Congress chieftain Alwan Hassan challenged presenter Seun Okinbaloye to dial the line and put his phone on speaker.

Hassan, a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, had cited the emergency line as an achievement of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. He said the number was designed to connect callers with responders during medical emergencies, security incidents and other situations requiring urgent assistance.

“Take your phone and call 112. Nobody knows about this. We used to hear it in America, 911. Call 112 now, put it on the speaker, and they’ll ask you what’s your emergency…Thanks to APC government,” Hassan said.

Okinbaloye dialled the number during the interview and reported that the call failed to connect.

“This number is not working,” the presenter said.

Hassan suggested a network issue might have caused the failed call and said he had successfully reached the service on previous occasions. Okinbaloye said other calls were going through from the same location and that viewers were sending messages saying they, too, could not connect to 112.

An X user said a call to the number went through in Umuahia, Abia State. The differing accounts left open why the live call and the attempts described by viewers failed.

How the 112 service is supposed to work

Hassan said calls to 112 were meant to reach an emergency communication centre serving the caller’s location. He explained that operators would establish the nature of the emergency and alert the appropriate responders, such as an ambulance service for a medical emergency or the nearest police station for a security incident.

He added that the government was developing a dashboard to help operators identify callers’ locations, reducing the need for people in distress to provide their addresses.

According to Hassan, the Abuja centre was ready, but Tinubu had directed that its launch wait until centres across the country were ready to operate under a coordinated system. Hassan said he expected that to happen by March 2027.

When Okinbaloye questioned whether the emergency service was among the administration’s promises that had yet to be fully delivered, Hassan appealed for more time.

“We’ll fulfil them. We’ll fulfil them with time. This is why we’re asking for more time,” Hassan said.

FG’s plan for a nationwide rollout

The National Economic Council approved 112 as Nigeria’s single toll-free emergency number for medical, security, fire and other emergencies.

In September, the Federal Government directed agencies including the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Nigeria Police Force, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Road Safety Corps to develop a plan for operating the service nationwide.

Watch video below:

Nigeria 🇳🇬 𝟏𝟏𝟐 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐀𝐏𝐂 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞
pic.twitter.com/ztBXsnSbNa— Nigeria Stories (@NigeriaStories) November 11, 2026