A former city council member in Brazil has returned the toilet and two sinks that were removed from his office after failing to run for re-election.
A video was posted online of one of Janaína Lima’s staff members transporting the facility as her term as Sao Paulo lawmaker ended.
“I have decided to donate the equipment I purchased with my own resources to the Chamber of Commerce,” she said in a statement to X after backlash on social media.
“Of course neither I nor my advisor need a bathroom.”
Workers were captured on CCTV at her office dismantling facilities installed when she took office eight years ago.
In a statement posted on social media, Lima said the bathroom renovations were not council-owned property because she paid for them with her own money.
Lima said he followed guidance from the legal department to remove all resources he had personally installed.
She told Brazilian media outlet G1 that the building’s hydraulics were “sensitive.”
She added that other fixtures purchased for the office, including glass partitions and industrial-style lighting fixtures, will be retained by her predecessor.
Lima served as an adviser to the new party until January 1.
The 41-year-old lost her seat to Adrilles Jorge of the Brazilian Labor Party in the 2024 elections.
At Monday’s inauguration ceremony, Jorge told G1 that his team would “use communal bathrooms” until the situation is resolved.
“I visited the office and thought the architecture was great, but he took it all out.”
“I even took out the toilet and sink. I didn’t say (I would take it out). And that’s something he won’t say and I won’t ask.”
New House Speaker Ricardo Teixeira said “appropriate measures” would be taken.
