A young Nigerian lady, Mitchel Ihezue, who hails from Imo state has been crowned the winner of the Miss Universe Nigeria 2023 pageant.

The pageant’s finale took place on Sunday at the convention center of Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island in Lagos.

The eligibility criteria allowed contestants who are single, married, single mothers, or divorced to participate.

This included slender or plus-size contestants between the ages of 18 and 28.

A total of 37 contestants from all states and the FCT were selected to compete for the crown.

The top 5 contestants are Miss Imo, Miss Zamfara, Miss Ekiti, Miss Lagos and Miss Anambra.

Chinaza Miracle (Borno) earned the ‘Miss Amity’, Nana Aisha Abubakar (Nasarawa) claimed ‘Miss Photogenic’ while Precious Marcus Chinah (Taraba) dazzled in the ‘Best Traditional Costume’ category.

Ihezue, the 26-year-old visual artist, was presented the crown by Hannah Iribhogbe, the Miss Universe Nigeria 2022.

She is also an advocate for women’s rights. She has a master’s degree in business administration from Lagos Business School.

In 2017, she was crowned the ‘Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria’ and represented Nigeria at the ‘Miss World’ beauty pageant in the same year.

Ihezue was in the top 40 and also earned the title of ‘Miss World Top Model 2017’ in the global pageant.

She will represent Nigeria at the Miss Universe 2023 in El Salvador in November 18.