Ex-official returns toilet, sinks she took from her office after losing re-election in Brazil

A former city councilor in Brazil who lost her bid for re-election returned a toilet and two sinks that she had taken from her office bathroom when she left the job on Jan. 1.

Janaína Lima’s staffers were captured on the office’s security cameras hauling away the bathroom facilities after the former Sao Paulo New Party councilwoman’s term wrapped up at the end of 2024.

“I decided to donate the equipment I acquired with my own resources to the chamber,” she clarified in a statement on X after receiving heavy backlash for the move on social media.

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

The stolen equipment had been installed when Lima first took office eight years ago. She claimed in the statement that she had paid for the renovations with her own money when she was elected, so they technically belonged to her and not the council.

Lima pinned her decision-making on the legal department, who she claimed advised that all personally installed assets should be removed following the end of her tenure.

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

Lima left other personally-purchased items behind, including a glass partition and industrial-style light fittings that she said will stay there for her successor’s use. Her employees only appear to have originally absconded with the bathroom facilities on their boss’ behalf.

Labour Party member Adrilles Jorge took Lima’s old office following her loss in the 2024 elections. At his inauguration, he joked to G1 that his staff would be using “a communal potty” until their missing toilet was returned.

“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 would I ask.”

Ricardo Teixeira, the new president of the House, promised that “appropriate measures” would be taken to resolve the issue.