NISSAN shareholders approved yesterday the ouster from the Japanese automaker’s board former chairman Carlos Ghosn, who faces allegations of financial misconduct.

The approval was shown by applause from the more than 4,000 people gathered at a Tokyo hotel for a three-hour extraordinary shareholders’ meeting. Other votes had been submitted in advance.

Ahead of the vote, Nissan’s top executive apologized to its shareholders for the scandal at the Japanese automaker and asked them to approve Ghosn’s dismissal.

Chief executive Hiroto Saikawa and other Nissan Motor Co. executives bowed deeply in apology to shareholders attending the extraordinary meeting at a Tokyo hotel.

Shareholders also approved the appointment of French alliance partner Renault SA’s chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan.

Senard, introduced to shareholders at the meeting’s end, thanked them and promised to do his best to keep the automaker’s performance on track.

They likewise also gave a green light to removing from the board a former executive direct, Greg Kelly, who has been charged with collaborating with Ghosn in the alleged misconduct.

Angry shareholders demanded an explanation for how wrongdoing on an allegedly massive scale had gone unchecked for years. The meeting was closed except to stockholders but livestreamed.

Ghosn, who was first arrested in November, has been charged with under-reporting his Nissan salary for a decade, and of temporarily transferring personal financial losses to Nissan’s books. (SD-Agencies)