He then resigned to become the executive secretary at the headquarters of UMNO at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).
After Adib won the Malacca state assembly seat of Ayer Panas in the 1978 general election, he replace Datuk Setia Haji Abdul Ghani Ali as the new Chief Minister of Malacca.
He was then replaced by Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik in 1982 by Mahathir Mohamad who became the new Prime Minister earlier in 1981.
[2] Adib contested the parliamentary seat of Alor Gajah, Malacca in the subsequent 1982 general election and he won to be the Member of Parliament.
He was then selected to be the Minister of Information replacing Dato' Mohamed Rahmat who was appointed ambassador to Jakarta, Indonesia.