 In January 2011, Obada was appointed into Directorate position, covering the South-West of Nigeria for the Goodluck and Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation.In July 2011, following Jonathan's victory in the Presidential elections, Obada was appointed Minister of State for Defence by Goodluck Jonathan, and then served in Jonathan's cabinet as de facto Defence Minister until a major reshuffle in September 2013.On March 6, 2014, she was appointed by Goodluck Jonathan as one of the top five Nigerian elder-statesmen in the 2014 National Conference, Nigeria.