The Federal Police carried out an operation on Thursday to investigate suspected vote buying in Nilópolis during the 2024 municipal elections. The action included home and personal searches against federal deputy Ricardo Abrão, from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), who is cousin to Mayor Abraão David Neto, known as Abraãozinho.
The operation occurs amid a dispute over the electoral legacy of the Abraão and Sessim families, who for more than five decades have exercised influence over the Beija-Flor samba school, based in Nilópolis, in Baixada Fluminense. The relationship between clan members is worn out, especially between Ricardo Abrão and Aniz Abraão David, known as Anísio, patron of Beija-Flor.
Abraãozinho, Anísio's nephew and current mayor of the city, has been fighting for political space with his cousin Sérgio Sessim, former mayor of Nilópolis, after the vacuum left by older clan leaders. The investigation is an outcome of this internal conflict scenario between the two families that have dominated local politics for decades.
