Alwan Hassan, a spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, boasted on TV that Nigeria’s emergency number 112 is now functional courtesy of the President Bola Tinubu administration, but the boast backfired as the number failed to connect.
Mr Hassan urged his interviewer on Channels TV to call 112 and put it on speaker for Nigerians to hear.
“Let me tell you what you don’t know. Take your phone and call 112. Nobody knows about this. We used to hear about it in America: 911. Put it on speaker, and they will ask you what your emergency is—whether health, security, or distress call. Call 112. Welcome to Nigeria. Thanks to the APC government,” Mr Hassan declared.
When asked if the 112 emergency line was an achievement of the APC, Mr Hassan said, “Yes. That’s an emergency line. If you are in Abuja, the centre in Abuja will pick up. If you are in Kano, the centre in Kano will pick up.”
The APC PCC spokesperson added, “Let me tell you what Asiwaju has done again on this. They have now gone further to have a dashboard in every centre to know the location of the caller.”
The number failed to connect when the interviewer dialled it on live TV. Mr Hassan also dialled the emergency number on his phone, but it failed to connect.
In February 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission said that the national emergency number “is the most critical infrastructure necessary for the successful implementation of the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance Systems (NEMSAS) recently launched by the Federal Ministry of Health”.
In September 2026, the Federal Ministry of Information said the Tinubu government directed stakeholders and relevant agencies to design a comprehensive operational roadmap for the nationwide rollout of the 112 national emergency number.
The National Economic Council (NEC) recently approved 112 as Nigeria’s single universal toll-free emergency number to replace fragmented, slow response lines, with a view to eliminating bureaucratic red tape and allowing citizens easy access to rapid help during fires, accidents, medical crises, or security breaches.
