Brazil ex-official returns toilet she had removed from office

A former city counsellor in Brazil has returned a toilet and two sinks she had removed from her office after losing a bid for re-election.

Footage of one of Janaína Lima’s employees hauling away the facilities was posted online as her tenure as Sao Paulo councilwoman ended.

“I decided to donate the equipment I acquired with my own resources to the chamber,” she said in statement on X, following a social media backlash.

“Obviously, neither I nor my advisers need a toilet.”

CCTV cameras caught employees in her office removing the facilities that were installed when she took office eight years ago.

In a statement posted on social media, Lima said the bathroom renovation was paid for with her own money and therefore not an asset belonging to the council.

Lima said she had followed the guidance of the legal department, which had indicated that all personally installed resources should be removed.

She told Brazilian media outlet G1 the hydraulics in the building are “sensitive”.

She added that other fixtures she had bought for the office – such as a glass partition and industrial-style light fittings – would remain in place for her predecessor.

Lima served as served as a counsellor for the New Party until 1 January.

The 41-year-old lost her position to Adrilles Jorge, of the Brazilian Labour Party, in the 2024 elections.

At his inauguration on Monday, Jorge quipped to G1 that his team would “use a communal potty” until the situation is resolved.

“I visited the office and thought the architecture was brilliant. But she took everything out,” he said.

“They even took out the toilet and the sink. She didn’t say [that she was going to take them out]. And it’s something that neither she would say, nor I would ask.”

The new president of the House, Ricardo Teixeira said “appropriate measures” would be taken.