Tensions between Christians and Muslims regarding the balance of power in Nigeria have increased under the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, according to new research.

Christians are now more likely to say the government is "run for the benefit of only a few groups of people", as opposed to all Nigerians, than they were when former President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, was in power.

According to a Pew Research, 65 per cent of Nigeria's Christians say the government is run for the benefit of a few groups, up from 58 per cent in 2015.

The share of Muslims expressing this view, has dropped from 64 per cent to 45 per cent.

Pew said this shift may reflect "a transition of power" from Jonathan to Buhari, who is a Muslim, in the March 2015 election.

Buhari met with the Archbishop of Canterbury during a visit to the UK in May this year, during which Justin Welby said Nigeria had "more promise, more opportunity, more potential" than anywhere else in the world.

The Archbishop's words stood in sharp contrast to then-Prime Minister David Cameron's own comments to the Queen, when he described Nigeria as "one of the most corrupt countries in the world", along with Afghanistan.

Welby said afterwards it was "a great honour" to welcome the leader of the largest country in Africa with "the very large Anglican Church in Nigeria."

He continued: "I think it would be fair to say that it is a rare day at this place when we do not pray for Nigeria. We pray for Nigeria, for you personally, for all those, both in government and in opposition, in Nigeria, for the poor in Nigeria and for those who have suffered over the last number of years from the violence that has plagued your country, which you have been tackling so determinedly since you first took office.

"Nigeria is a country which has more promise, more opportunity, more potential than anywhere else that I know in many continents, not just in Africa. Its people are so intelligent, so full of energy, so full of commitment, that when Nigerians work together, the world – not just Africa – is affected by that beneficially. And so we pray for the potential and future of this land, to be a place that has a profound effect for good on our world, and demonstrates what is possible to be achieved."

Jonathan faced sharp criticism while he was in office especially over his government's slow reaction to increasing inter-religious tension and its failure to secure the release of more than 200 schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno state, in April 2014.

Buhari made increasing national security a key tenet of his campaign.

The two candidates had run against each other in a previous election in 2011. After Jonathan won, Buhari claimed that voting had been rigged, and his supporters began targeting Christian communities in widespread attacks that left an estimated 800 dead.

Last year's election, however, was considered to be less divisive along religious lines.