A founding member of the Fiji Labour Party, he served as a Cabinet Minister in the government of Timoci Bavadra until removed from office by the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, and then one of the two Deputy Prime Ministers in the government of Mahendra Chaudhry[1] until removed from office by the 2000 Fijian coup d'état.

After splitting with Choudhry in the wake of the coup, he founded the New Labour Unity Party to contest the 2001 election, but failed to win a seat in Parliament.

[3] He later obtained a PhD from Macquarie University in Australia,[3] and while there was highly critical of South Pacific Commission, attacking it as a colonial organisation.

[10] He was later part of the ousted government's efforts to negotiate a peaceful return to democracy through the Rabuka regime's constitutional review committee.

[12] During the 2000 Fijian coup d'état in which most members of the government were kidnapped by George Speight, Baba's courage as one of the hostages earned him considerable public respect.

[14]: 441  Choudhry instead advised President Josefa Iloilo to dissolve parliament and call an election to re-establish constitutional rule.

On 22 December 2005, Baba said that he would pursue academic and consultancy work after completing his four-year contract at the University of Auckland, which expired at the end of 2005.

In May 2005 he published the book Speight of Violence, coauthored by Baba, his partner Unaisi Nabobo-Baba, and New Zealand journalist Michael Field.

[28][29] The Military later announced that Baba might face investigation for his alleged links to international fraudster Peter Foster.

[30][31] Following the imprisonment of former prime minister and SDL leader Laisenia Qarase in 2012, Baba emerged as a de facto spokesperson for the party.

[32] When the SDL was dissolved by the military regime, he helped to found the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SDLP) as its successor.