Kuniaki Nozoe, who stepped down as president of Fujitsu Ltd. last September, has submitted a written request to the major electronics maker seeking to nullify his resignation, sources said Friday.
Saying he was forced to resign under the false reason that he had contacts with "antisocial forces," Nozoe has asked the company to allow him to give an explanation at an extraordinary board meeting, they said, without identifying the antisocial forces.
He has also called on Fujitsu to set up an investigative committee of outside members to look into the resignation process, which he called problematic, the sources said.
A Fujitsu representative confirmed the company has received the written request and is considering how to respond, but declined comment on the details of the request.
When Fujitsu Chairman Michiyoshi Mazuka announced the decision to concurrently serve as president in September, he explained that Nozoe offered to resign as president for health reasons.
The sources, however, said Mazuka and other executives told Nozoe on Sept. 25 that antisocial forces were involved in the negotiations on Fujitsu's sale of its subsidiary, and that he should resign because his links with such forces could lead Fujitsu to be delisted from stock exchanges.