Alwan Hassan, a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, appeared on Politics Today on 10 November to promote the 112 emergency line. He compared it to America’s 911. “Take your phone and call 112,” he told the host, Seun Okinbaloye. “Put it on speaker. Welcome to Nigeria.” The host dialled. It did not connect.
The exchange took seconds. The host suggested this was one promise among a long list of non-functional promises. Hassan blamed the network and said the government needs more time. He did not dispute the result. That concession is the most useful thing said in the segment.
The service was approved in April 2026. Seven months later, a call placed from a studio in Lagos, on a working network, with an audience watching, went nowhere. Viewers reported the same outcome from their own phones. A single failed test is not proof that the system is dead everywhere. It is proof that it is not reliable enough to survive a demonstration its own supporters arranged.
The historical record is consistent. Lagos introduced 767 and 112 emergency numbers in 2010, with a control room and a launch event. The numbers lapsed into disuse. The Nigeria Emergency Management Agency promoted 112 at various points, and the Federal Road Safety Corps runs its own 122 line. Each number worked at launch. None became routine, because a hotline needs a dispatch centre, funded operators and vehicles that actually arrive.
The mechanics are the part that campaign rhetoric skips. A functioning 112 requires call handling, geolocation, radio dispatch across police, fire and ambulance services, and a vehicle within reach of the caller. The line is the cheapest component. The dispatch network is the expensive one. Announcing the number without funding the network produces exactly what the studio audience heard.
For a reader in Kaduna whose neighbour is attacked at night, the question is not whether 112 exists. It is whether anyone answers, and how long the vehicle takes. Neither answer was supplied on Tuesday.
Winners: Hassan, for a memorable clip. Opponents, who now have a demonstration they did not have to stage. Losers: The campaign, which lost a talking point in real time. The emergency service, whose credibility is now a running joke. Nigerians who might have trusted the number in an actual emergency.
Bottom Line: A campaign that tests its promises on air is brave. A service that fails the test is not ready.