He was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Igan constituency in Sarawak, representing the United Traditional Bumiputera Party (PBB) in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
[3] He firstly began his primary education at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Bawang Tian, Matu before furthering his studies in different secondary schools such as Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Luar Bandar Sibu, Sibu, SMK Penghulu Kedit, Kanowit and Kolej Tun Datuk Tuanku Haji Bujang in Tanjung Lobang, Miri.
He later pursued his higher education at University of Western Australia (under the Colombo Plan scholarship[4]) and graduated in 1969 with a bachelor's degree of Civil Engineering.
[5] After finishing his studies, Wahab firstly worked at Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) as a Regional Engineer in Sarikei until 1975.
For the next 4 state elections (1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001), Wahab successfully retain his seat as its representative [5] after beating former Chief Minister of Sarawak and Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Abdul Rahman Ya'kub with a majority of 1625 votes.