He competed for the regional seat (governor) in Milne Bay Province -of which Alotau is the capital- in 2022 but he lost.

The Abel lineage brought church, health and education to many parts of Milne Bay province.

He mentions as his occupations prior to elections: Financial controller with Global Constructions, Ipili Porgera Investments and businessman in Milne Bay.

[8] His time as Minister for Culture and Tourism saw an agreement with his Chinese counterpart on Approved Destination Status for Papua New Guinea, a wide range of issues regarding the popular Kokoda Track, including preservation, nearby mining, track access, and airline connections, and seeking the return of illegally exported artefacts.

[15][16] Although sacked as Minister by Somare in the aftermath, when the motion again came up in November, Abel wrote a letter indicating that he wished to withdraw his support for it, and it again failed.

[26] As Minister for National Planning, his role has included individual infrastructure projects, addressing public service corruption, a long-running project to introduce a biometric national identification card, the implementation of a sustainable development strategy, and issues with aid delivery and the Australian detention centre at Manus Island.

[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] In August 2017, Abel was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister under Peter O'Neill following the defeat of his predecessor Leo Dion at the 2017 election.