FORMER Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN), Ugochi Mitchel Ihezue, has been crowned Miss Universe Nigeria (MUN), 2023, on Sunday, September 10.

Ihezue was crowned during the grand finale of the pageant show, which took place at Eko Hotels and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos, surpassing 36 other girls, each representing a state in Nigeria.

Victory Wilson and Winfrey Agbelese co-hosted the show with the theme “Speaking for Women by Women” to advocate for and uplift women for a noble cause.

At the inaugural edition, following its separation from MBGN, Guy-Murray Bruce, the president of Silverbird Group, announced that MUN had adopted a new format, prioritising inclusivity without regard to marital status, body type, skin tone, height or weight.

At the grand finale, Miss Zamfara, Sectra Sede emerged as the first runner-up, earning her the title of Miss Supranational Nigeria and representing Nigeria at the Miss Supranational pageant in Poland in 2024.

While Miss Ekiti, Princess Agunbiade emerged as second runner-up, Miss Nasarawa, Aisha Abubakar, clinched the award for Miss Photogenic, Miss Taraba, Precious Marcus, won the Best Traditional Costume award and Miss Borno, Chinaza Miracle got the Miss Amity award.

In 2017, Ugochi Mitchel won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant, representing Nigeria at Miss World in China. After making it to the top 15, she also won the top model competition, earning her the title Miss World Top Model 2017.

As the new Miss Universe Nigeria, she will represent Nigeria at the Miss Universe competition in El Salvador in November.