Marco Aurélio Carvalho, the coordinator of Prerrogativas, defended President Lula's lack of responsibility for the relegation of the Acadêmicos de Niterói samba school during the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. Despite the school's tribute to Lula, which led to its relegation to Série Ouro, Carvalho argued that the school's achievement of a perfect score in its samba-enredo, commemorating the president, contradicts the notion that Lula bears any blame for the outcome. He emphasized that the intense competition and the strong tradition of rival schools make it unjust to hold the president accountable for the school's performance.

Carvalho characterized the school's performance as