Photo: Emergency call-centre personnel at work (file photo) — Wikimedia Commons
An attempt to showcase Nigeria's 112 emergency number as a major achievement ended in embarrassment on live television on Tuesday night, when a test call on Channels Television's Politics Today failed to connect.
APC Presidential Campaign Council member Alwan Hassan had presented the emergency line as one of the Tinubu administration's accomplishments and invited host Seun Okinbaloye to dial it live on air. Okinbaloye dialled 112 and put his phone on speaker — and the call did not ring.
- Hassan urged Okinbaloye: "Call 112 now, put it on speaker, and they'll ask you what's your emergency"
- The line failed to connect repeatedly, while other numbers dialled from the studio rang normally
- Hassan blamed a possible network glitch, then conceded: "Maybe the system is not fully functional"
How the 112 live test unfolded on Politics Today
"Take your phone and call 112. Nobody knows about this. We used to hear about it in America. Put it on speaker, Seun. Welcome to Nigeria," Hassan said, comparing the service to America's 911.
After repeated attempts, Okinbaloye responded: "This number is not working. Maybe this is one of you people's promises that is not fully functional. You have a long list of non-functional promises." Viewers also messaged the programme reporting similar difficulties reaching the line.
Hassan insisted the service was operational and said he had personally called it several times. "It is working, Seun. It is working even without internet, even without network," he said, suggesting a network problem in the studio — a claim Okinbaloye countered by dialling other numbers that rang without difficulty.
What Hassan said about the emergency centres
Hassan explained that Emergency Communication Centres are being established across the states and that the Abuja centre is ready. He said President Tinubu directed that the Abuja centre should not be officially launched until other states were aligned, with March next year as the target.
He also noted the line did not originate with the current administration: "It has been functional since 2020. President Buhari launched it during the pandemic." Reports following the broadcast noted that a separate test by Punch also failed to connect, although isolated successful calls, including in Umuahia, have been reported.
What happens next
The moment has reopened public questions about the reliability of the single national emergency number, which the National Economic Council adopted as Nigeria's unified emergency line for police, ambulance, fire and other response services. Nigerians will be watching whether the agencies behind 112 — coordinated by the Nigerian Communications Commission — respond to the very public failed test.
Credit: Channels Television, Politics Today, November 10, 2026, as reported by GWG on November 11, 2026.
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