Nigeria’s national emergency telephone number, 112, has come under scrutiny after repeated attempts to reach the service failed during a live television broadcast, despite assurances by Alwan Hassan, a spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, that the line was fully operational.

The incident occurred on Tuesday night during Hassan’s appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme anchored by Seun Okinbaloye.

During the discussion, Hassan highlighted the availability of the emergency number, urging the anchor to dial 112 and demonstrate how Nigerians could access emergency assistance for medical emergencies, security threats and other distress situations.

“Seun, let me tell you something that you don’t know: take your phone and call 112. Nobody knows about this; we used to hear it in America: 911,” Hassan said.

He further described the service as an achievement of the APC-led Federal Government, explaining that callers would be connected to emergency response centres responsible for coordinating assistance in their respective locations.

According to him, the system allows emergency operators to determine the nature of distress calls and dispatch appropriate responders, including ambulances and security personnel.

Hassan also disclosed that the Federal Government was working towards introducing a dashboard that would enable emergency centres to automatically identify callers' locations without requiring them to provide their addresses.

However, the demonstration quickly became uncomfortable for the APC spokesperson when Okinbaloye dialled 112 several times, only for the calls to fail to connect.

“Not ringing just yet,” the anchor remarked during his initial attempt.

Despite the unsuccessful calls, Hassan remained confident, insisting that the emergency line would connect.

“It will ring. It will ring, and they will pick,” he maintained.

After several attempts, Okinbaloye informed him that the number was not connecting.

“This number is not working,” the anchor declared.

Hassan, however, stood by his position, attributing the failed attempts to a possible network problem at the television station.

“It is working even without network,” he insisted.

But Okinbaloye challenged the explanation, pointing out that other telephone numbers dialled from the same location had connected successfully.

In a light-hearted but pointed exchange, the anchor asked whether the failed connection was because of Hassan's political affiliation.

“Because you are APC?” Okinbaloye asked.

“Not because I’m APC,” Hassan replied.

The anchor subsequently questioned whether the unsuccessful demonstration could make viewers believe that the campaign spokesperson had exaggerated the government's achievement.

Hassan rejected the suggestion that he was misleading the public, maintaining that the emergency number was functional despite the failed live test.

Towards the end of the programme, Okinbaloye appealed to viewers to independently dial 112 and send him feedback through X on whether the service was accessible.

He later disclosed that several viewers had contacted him, reporting that their attempts to reach the emergency line had also been unsuccessful.

Recall that in July 2026, the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, approved the adoption of 112 as Nigeria's unified emergency telephone number across all levels of government and relevant agencies.

The development was aimed at strengthening emergency response coordination and providing Nigerians with a centralised channel for reporting medical, security and other life-threatening emergencies.

However, the failed live television demonstration has renewed attention on the need to ensure that the emergency line delivers reliable access to assistance whenever and wherever Nigerians need it.