Nikolas Ferreira: Lula Campaign Asks Electoral Court to Remove 2 Posts
BRAZIL · ELECTIONS
Key Facts
- —What happened On 29 September Lula’s coalition asked Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court to remove two posts by deputy Nikolas Ferreira on X.
- —The dispute The campaign says the posts turned Lula’s 28 September remark about prostate and gynaecological exams into a sexual insinuation.
- —Who he is Nikolas Ferreira, 30, of the Liberal Party, was Brazil’s most-voted federal deputy in 2022, with 1.47 million votes.
- —His reply “Canalha, Lula, é quem foi preso por corrupção” (“The scoundrel, Lula, is whoever was jailed for corruption”), he told a rally on 29 September.
- —What comes next Justice Estela Aranha will rule on the request; Brazil votes on Sunday 4 October 2026.
Nikolas Ferreira, a 30-year-old deputy from the Bolsonaro camp, faces a court complaint from Lula’s campaign and answered with an insult.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s coalition has asked Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court to remove two posts by federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira. The campaign says the posts, published on 29 September, distort a remark Lula made about medical exams.
Who Nikolas Ferreira is
Nikolas Ferreira is a 30-year-old federal deputy from Minas Gerais, Brazil’s second most populous state. He sits for the Liberal Party (PL), the party of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
In October 2022 he won 1.47 million votes, more than any other candidate for the Chamber of Deputies. Before that he was a city councillor in Belo Horizonte.
He is one of the most-followed politicians on the Brazilian right. He is seeking a new term on Sunday, in the same election in which Lula seeks re-election.
At the rally where he answered Lula, he called himself “a young man of 30, born in a favela”, Poder360 reported. He said Lula had lost his temper over “a mere federal deputy”.
What Lula said in Belém
On Monday 28 September Lula spoke at a rally in Belém, capital of the northern state of Pará. He praised the region’s first robotic prostate operation and called men “cowards” about check-ups.
“The man does not like to take the prostate test,” Lula said, according to Correio do Povo. “He does not like the touch.”
“Women learn to take the touch from when they are little,” he went on. “Men do not, they make a fuss.”
The remark spread quickly online. Correio do Povo reported that allies of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), Lula’s rival in the presidential race, picked it up within hours.
The posts and the complaint
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) runs Brazilian elections and rules on complaints about campaign content. Its judges can order posts removed within hours.
Nikolas published two posts on X on the morning of 29 September, Poder360 reported. One was a 94-second reaction video captioned “Little girls don’t learn to take any touch, Lula!!!!”.
The coalition, called Brasil Pronto Pra Mais, filed its complaint the same day. It says the posts cut an isolated phrase and gave it a sexual meaning absent from the speech.
It asks the court to remove the posts within 24 hours, to bar similar content and to impose the maximum fine. That fine is R$30,000 (about US$5,800), Poder360 reported.
Maíra Recchia, the campaign’s lawyer, wrote that the posts turned “a discussion about health and prevention” into a sexual narrative. That meaning, she argued, “was not present in the original speech”.
Insults from both stages
That evening, at a rally in Salvador, Lula called Nikolas a “canalha”, a scoundrel. He said one wrong sentence had let the deputy “invent something” about him.
“I wanted to make a comparison of how brave women are, because they take exams and are not afraid,” Lula explained. His wife, Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, then attacked Nikolas with a crude regional insult.
Nikolas answered at a campaign event in Minas Gerais, Poder360 reported at 11:02 p.m. Brasília time (02:02 UTC on 30 September). “Canalha, Lula, é quem foi preso por corrupção,” he said.
He went on to list other accusations against Lula and his family. He also said the scoundrel was whoever made the remark and would not own it.
The history behind the jibe
Lula was jailed in April 2018 after a corruption conviction in the Lava Jato (Car Wash) investigation. He was released in November 2019.
In April 2021 Brazil’s Supreme Court confirmed, by 8 votes to 3, the annulment of his convictions. It ruled that the federal court in Curitiba had no jurisdiction over the cases.
That ruling restored his political rights and allowed him to win the 2022 election. Lula has always denied wrongdoing, while his critics still cite the jail term.
What the court decides, and why it matters
Justice Estela Aranha, one of the electoral court’s judges, is the rapporteur. No ruling had been published by Wednesday morning.
The court has already ordered campaign videos removed in this race. For readers abroad, the case shows how much of the contest is fought on social media, then in court.
Both sides gain attention from the fight, four days before the vote. The ruling will show where the court draws the line between harsh political satire and distortion of a candidate’s words.
More: Brazil Elections 2026 news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Nikolas Ferreira?
Nikolas Ferreira is a 30-year-old federal deputy for the Liberal Party (PL) from Minas Gerais. He won 1.47 million votes in 2022, the most of any candidate for Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies.
Why did Lula’s campaign go to the electoral court?
It says two Nikolas posts on X on 29 September gave a sexual meaning to Lula’s remark on prostate and gynaecological exams. It wants them removed and a fine imposed.
What did Nikolas Ferreira reply?
At a rally in Minas Gerais he said “Canalha, Lula, é quem foi preso por corrupção”. It means the scoundrel is whoever was jailed for corruption. Lula’s convictions were annulled by the Supreme Court in 2021.
Sources: Correio do Povo (complaint) · Correio do Povo (Lula and Janja) · Poder360 (Nikolas reply) · Poder360 (complaint details) · Chamber of Deputies (Agência Câmara) · Supreme Federal Court (STF)
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